File this one under “studies in government being effective.” Last year, the SBA Office of Advocacy decided to light a fire under federal regulators on the matter of compliance with Section 610 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act — the part that requires them to take out the rules occasionally, dust them off and examine them [...]

The House Small Business Committee was busy just before the August recess, holding hearings on issues such as access to health insurance and the need for additional economic stimulus measures for small businesses. Another item that came under review during a subcommittee hearing late last month was the perpetual issue of regulatory burdens imposed on [...]

The reason why it is so difficult for government and small businesses to deal with each other in any context seems to be that very few in the government understand how small businesses operate. The only people who seem receptive to this message are folks who already know it.

Just as too many lawmakers appear to believe they are doing enough for the economy by crafting policy focused on large businesses, so too many federal bureaucrats believe they can treat all businesses like they treat large businesses, without ill effects.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued a business alert to remind relevant firms that its Red Flag Rules will go into effect on November 1, 2008, and compliance is required as of that date. The relevant firms in question are financial institutions, which will not include any microbusinesses, and “creditors” — any firm that [...]

A new report released recently by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) recommends that enforcement action to address the tax gap should focus on the small number of large dollar non-compliant taxpayers, regardless of their structure — corporation, partnership, sole proprietor or individual. That, said panelists at a forum jointly hosted last September by the GAO, [...]

In a guest article reprinted by the MicroEnterprise Journal from the monthly Small Business Advocate newsletter, the Office of Advocacy’s John McDowell writes: “Changing markets, technology, and competition make it imperative that federal agencies periodically review how their current regulations affect small business. Only with regular evaluation can the enormous number of current regulations be [...]

Last week, we learned that Congress does occasionally go back to see if something they did is working. This week, we also learn that Congress also sometimes goes back to fix things they screwed up. Case in point: Congress has moved pretty speedily (for them) to pass a bill that protects merchants from frivolous lawsuits [...]

Congressional Democrats have been squabbling with the Bush Administration over the need for reform in the credit card industry. Folks like House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank and Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Chairman Christopher Dodd are touting legislation, while the Administration favors less stringent industry oversight through regulatory changes. We got a [...]

The SBA Office of Advocacy was able to save small businesses about $2.5 billion in regulatory compliance costs during fiscal 2007, according to its annual report to Congress on enforcement of the Regulatory Flexibility Act. The report was released last week with a certain amount of hoopla, as this year it included its Top Ten [...]

A recently released research report by Scott Wallsten, vice president for research and senior fellow with iGrowth Global, finds that unbundling rules alone do not promote broadband penetration and, in some cases, actually depress infrastructure investment. However, he also finds that rules that both provide new entrants with access to the incumbent’s infrastructure, while minimizing [...]