Joint Coalition Letter Supporting the Prove It Act

Dear Chairman Williams and Ranking Member Velazquez,

On behalf of millions of small businesses across the country, we write to thank you for prioritizing legislation to provide regulatory relief and reduce red tape for small businesses. We urge the Committee to advance legislation to strengthen the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) and ensure the intent of the law is fulfilled.

Small businesses are concerned with the unprecedented pace of regulations coming from Washington. Over the last three and a half years, more than $1.6 trillion in new regulatory costs and almost 300 million new paperwork hours have been imposed on the private sector. These new burdens fall disproportionately on small businesses that do not have lawyers and compliance officers to navigate complex regulatory issues.

In 1980, President Carter and Congress recognized the disproportionate impact of federal regulations on small businesses and unanimously approved the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA). The RFA sought to minimize the burdens on small businesses. However, in the 40-plus years since the RFA became law, agencies have found ways to disregard or avoid many of the requirements. In 2023, NFIB analyzed the Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Advocacy’s comment letters to federal agencies from January 2021 to January 2023 and found significant noncompliance with the RFA. Advocacy highlighted 28 instances where agencies failed to adequately examine the economic costs of regulations.

Download the joint comment letter to read the full text.