In Limbo Entrepreneurs have yet to feel any small-business regulatory relief.
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Nearly two years after the passage of the Small BusinessRegulatory Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA), small-business groupsare restless. The law was supposed to open a new era of federalfriendliness toward entrepreneurs. And while it's premature tocall the law a bust, SBREFA's shortcomings are becoming readilyapparent.
At various hearings last year, small-business groups revealedtheir complaints. "I see the same amount of effort made on[small-business regulatory enforcement] following the law'spassage that we saw before: very little effort indeed," saysTodd McCracken, president of National Small Business United (NSBU),a bipartisan small-business advocacy organization. McCracken spokebefore the House Small Business Committee in July.
Stephen Barlas is a freelance business reporter who coversthe Washington beat for 15 magazines.
Above The Law
The SBREFA contained several provisions, such as theCongressional Review Act (CRA). The act was supposed to make iteasier for Congress to void any new federal regulations consideredoverly burdensome by allowing the Senate to pass a resolution ofdisapproval with a majority vote of 51; there can be no filibuster.The House would also need a majority vote to pass a similarresolution.
However, few, if any, CRA resolutions of disapproval have beenintroduced in Congress since the SBREFA's passage. Andthat's not for lack of opportunity--nearly 5,000 newregulations have been passed since 1995.
McCracken believes Congress has not objected to regulationsbecause they aren't aware of how these regulations areaffecting small business. Rep. Sue Kelly (R-NY) has introduced theCongressional Office of Regulatory Analysis (CORA) Creation Act(H.R. 1704). CORA would do regulatory analysis for Congress,enabling them to challenge federal agency rationale anddecision-making.
CORA is in the Capitol Hill deep freeze, however. It has beenreferred to two House committees. There are no Democraticco-sponsors in the House and no companion Senate bill.
Board Games
Another section of the SBREFA created regional fairness boardsand a national ombudsman. The boards are supposed to receivecomplaints about federal agency heavy-handedness and refer thosecomplaints to the ombudsman. The ombudsman, Peter W. Barca, willissue his first annual report early next year.
Barca's report will be based on input from the fairnessboards, which have been slow to get off the ground. Scott George,general manager of Mid America Dental, Hearing, & Vision Centerin Mt. Vernon, Missouri, serves on the board in his region. Hisboard's members were approved in September 1996, but the WhiteHouse took 11 months to approve the one-page form the board sent toWashington as a condition for starting its work. "Getting thisprocess off the ground has been frustratingly slow," saysGeorge.
George thinks some federal agencies, such as the OccupationalSafety and Health Administration (OSHA), have tried more thanothers to take SBREFA's aim to heart. In fact, OSHA, as part ofVice President Gore's Reinventing Government initiative, hastried to reorient its state inspection programs toward"cooperative compliance." Yet even OSHA has come underfire from small-business groups that don't approve of itsprogram.
Congress did use a SBREFA provision to force the IRS to delay arule increasing the tax on many limited partnerships (See "TaxTalk," September). But that postponement is a lonely victoryon the SBREFA ledger.
Contact Sources
Mid America Dental, Hearing & Vision Center, 1050 W.Hayward Dr., Mt. Vernon, MO 65712, (417) 466-7196
Rep. Sue Kelly, (202) 225-5441, dan.boston@mail.house.gov
Small Business Administration, National Ombudsman, 500 W.Madison St., #1240, Chicago, IL 60661, (312) 353-0880
