This week, the Office of Advocacy released its annual Report on the Regulatory Flexibility Act, which outlines federal agency compliance with the Regulatory Flexibility Act, and reports on Advocacy’s efforts to relieve the regulatory burden on the nation’s small businesses.
The RFA requires agencies to analyze the economic impact of proposed regulations on small entities and consider less burdensome alternatives that still reach the agencies’ regulatory goals. Advocacy’s regulatory attorneys and economists work closely with federal agency staff to ensure RFA compliance and bring small business concerns to the decision-making table.
Advocacy’s efforts in fiscal year 2008 saved American small businesses $10.7 billion in foregone regulatory costs. Some of the efforts Advocacy made to secure these cost-savings for small business include:
Ø Submitting 33 public comment letters to federal agencies on regulatory proposals,
Ø Convening 28 roundtables to solicit opinions and concerns of small business stakeholders,
Ø Delivering the 2008 r3 Top 10 Rules for Review and Reform to agencies for their action, and
Ø Working with stakeholders in five states to pass regulatory flexibility legislation.
— Jamie Belcore, Assistant Chief Counsel