House Democrats are still fighting with the Republican majority over regulations and, specifically, over small businesses and regulations. That argument was very much on display during a hearing before a subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee earlier this month, the subject of which was the Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act of 2011 (H.R. 527). The bill [...]

The Justice Department is in the early stages of crafting a new set of regulations on Web site accessibility standards, in order to bring the web into compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). And why, after more than 20 years, is the Justice Department suddenly talking about a new set of [...]

Last month, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) staff issued a preliminary report designed to provide a framework within which policy makers, industry and consumer advocates can craft standard practices to protect consumer privacy in the face of rapidly evolving data handling and consumer outreach technology. That report, entitled Protecting Consumer Privacy in an Era of Rapid [...]

Sometimes, when Democrats and Republicans decide to compete for the fictional title of “Best Friend To Small Business,” it can be fun to watch. The 112th Congress is beginning to take shape as the Regulatory Reform Congress — always assuming that the clearly expressed intentions from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, as well [...]

Small entities — including small businesses, small and local governments and small non- profits — saved $7 billion in first-year costs and $745 million in annual recurring expenses, thanks to the SBA’s Office of Advocacy in its role as enforcer of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (Reg Flex). That’s the big take-away in the Obama Administration’s [...]

The Obama Administration seems to be playing its own rather peculiar game with the nation’s small businesses, one that might best be described as I give with one hand and take away with the other. So, while Administration officials have been singing the praises of small businesses and describing the Presidents pro-small business proposals, there [...]

Judging from this week’s news, you have to ask yourself if our nation’s leaders will, without possessing the vestige of a clue, end up destroying what they have not the wit to appreciate.

I’m talking about those proposed rules targeting firms and individuals (but mostly firms) that hire independent contractors.

Now, although this proposal is said to be a part of the President’s budget (and it is), it was actually proposed jointly by the Departments of Labor and the Treasury, and their respective Secretaries, Hilda Solis and Tim Geithner. They illustrate that mid-20th century political philosophies also are a poor fit for the way microbusinesses do business.

Over the past week, the talk on Capitol Hill took a welcome detour for those of us who would like to hear about something besides health care reform because, last week, House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) released what has been called a “discussion draft” of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2009 [...]

Last week, the SBA Office of Advocacy released its report on Regulatory Flexibility Act enforcement and compliance for fiscal 2008, the last such report detailing the results achieved under former Chief Counsel Tom Sullivan. The report includes updated information on federal agency compliance with the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) and E.O. 13272, agency compliance with [...]

The SBA Office of Advocacy announced last week that it had received thirty-eight nominations of burdensome regulations during the second round of its Regulatory Review and Reform (r3) initiative. That’s quite a drop from the first round, during which there were 83 nominations – more than double this year’s turnout. That almost certainly had to [...]