HR 33 · 115th Congress 2017–2019, ended

Small Business Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act of 2017

Introduced Jan 3, 2017 Originated House Sponsor Steve Chabot R-OH

Latest action · Mar 29, 2017 Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 115-21.

Progress

Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.

IntroducedJan 3, 2017
Passed HouseNot reached
Passed SenateNot reached
To the PresidentNot reached
Became lawNot reached

Summary

Small Business Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act of 2017

This bill modifies the rulemaking requirements and procedures of federal agencies (excluding Congress, U.S. courts, U.S. territories and possessions, and the District of Columbia) under the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 (RFA) and the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 (SBREFA). The definition of "rule" under the RFA is expanded to include all agency rules, except for: (1) rules that pertain to the protection of the rights of and benefits for veterans or that impose limitations on the cost and terms of consumer credit extended to service members and their dependents, or (2) rules of particular (and not general) applicability relating to rates, wages, and other financial indicators. Under a new definition of "economic impact," agencies are required to consider any direct economic effect of a proposed rule on small entities and any indirect economic effect on small entities that is reasonably foreseeable and that results from such rule.

Under the bill, agencies are required to modify their rulemaking procedures to:

include within initial and final regulatory flexibility analyses a detailed statement of information relating to a proposed rule;
include in the agency regulatory flexibility agenda a description of the sector of the North American Industrial Classification System that is affected by a proposed agency rule that is likely to have a significant economic impact of a substantial number of small entities;
require each initial regulatory flexibility analysis to contain detailed information about a proposed rule, including why agency action is being considered, the objectives and legal basis for the proposed rule, and an estimate of the number and types of small entities to which the proposed rule will apply;
eliminate waivers or delays of an initial regulatory flexibility analysis;
modify the procedures for participation of small entities in the promulgation of a proposed rule and the review panel advocacy process; and
publish a plan for the periodic review of existing rules and new rules that have a significant impact on a substantial number of small entities to determine whether such rules should be continued, changed, or rescinded.

Judicial review of an agency final rule for compliance with RFA requirements is allowed after the publication of such rule, instead of after completion of the rulemaking process.

The Small Business Act is amended to authorize the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to make small business size-standard determinations for all purposes other than for the purposes of such Act or the Small Business Investment Act of 1958.

SBREFA is amended to require agencies, in preparing small entity compliance guides, to solicit input from affected small entities or associations of small entities.

The Government Accountability Office must complete and publish a study that examines whether the SBA Chief Counsel for Advocacy has the capacity and resources to carry out duties under this bill.

Cosponsors 16

Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Jan 3, 2017 to Jul 28, 2017; 13 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.

Seat	Cosponsor		Signed on
R-AS	Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen	Original	Jan 3, 2017
R-MO	Blaine Luetkemeyer	Original	Jan 3, 2017
R-VA	Bob Goodlatte	Original	Jan 3, 2017
R-FL	Carlos Curbelo	Original	Jan 3, 2017
D-TX	Henry Cuellar	Original	Jan 3, 2017
R-TX	Pete Sessions	Original	Jan 3, 2017
R-IL	Randy Hultgren	Original	Jan 3, 2017
R-MO	Sam Graves	Original	Jan 3, 2017
R-CO	Scott R. Tipton	Original	Jan 3, 2017
R-CA	Stephen Knight	Original	Jan 3, 2017
R-IA	Steve King	Original	Jan 3, 2017
R-PA	Tom Marino	Original	Jan 3, 2017
R-MS	Trent Kelly	Original	Jan 3, 2017
R-UT	Mia B. Love		Jan 4, 2017
R-OH	Steve Stivers		Feb 27, 2017
R-PA	Lloyd Smucker		Jul 28, 2017

Committees 3

Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.

Chamber	Committee	What it did
House	Judiciary Committee	Referred Jan 3, 2017
	Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust Subcommittee	Referred Jan 12, 2017
House	Small Business Committee	Referred Jan 3, 2017
Senate	Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee	Hearings Mar 29, 2017

Actions 4

Everything that happened, newest first.

Mar 29, 2017Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 115-21.
Jan 12, 2017Referred to the Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial And Antitrust Law.
Jan 3, 2017Introduced in House
Jan 3, 2017Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Small Business, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

Research

What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.

Constitutional authority

Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant to the following: Article I, Section 1, Clause 1 of the United States Constitution, in that the legislation concerns the exercise of legislative powers generally granted to Congress by that section, including the exercise of those powers when delegated by Congress to the Executive; Article I, Section 8, Clauses 1 to 17, and Section 9, Clauses 1 to 2, 4, and 7 of the United States Constitution, in that the legislation concerns the exercise of specific legislative powers granted to Congress by those sections, including the exercise of those powers when delegated by Congress to the Executive; Article I, Section 8, Clause 18 of the United States Constitution, in that the legislation exercises legislative power granted to Congress by that clause ``to make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof;'' Article III, Section 1, Clause 1, Sentence 1, Section 2, Clause 1, and Section 2, Clause 2, Sentence 2, of the United States Constitution, in that the legislation defines or affects judicial powers and cases that are subject to legislation by Congress; Article IV, Section 3, Clause 2 of the United States Constitution, in that the legislation concerns the exercise of power granted to Congress to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States; and, Amendment XVI to the United States Constitution, in that the legislation concerns the exercise of power granted to Congress to lay and collect income taxes.

The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 163, no. 1, January 3, 2017, page H47.

Printed hearings 6

Hearings whose printed record names this bill, newest first: hearings on it, and wider hearings where it came up.

Number	Hearing	Committee	Held
115-61	REGULATORY REFORM AND ROLLBACK: THE EFFECTS ON SMALL BUSINESSES96 pages	Small Business Committee	Mar 7, 2018
115-59	HOW RED TAPE AFFECTS COMMUNITY BANKS AND CREDIT UNIONS: A GAO REPORT131 pages	Small Business Committee	Feb 27, 2018
115-49	HIGHWAY TO HEADACHE: FEDERAL REGULATIONS ON THE SMALL TRUCKING INDUSTRY86 pages	Small Business Committee	Nov 29, 2017
115-33	EXPEDITING ECONOMIC GROWTH: HOW STREAMLINING FEDERAL PERMITTING CAN CUT RED TAPE FOR SMALL BUSINESSES92 pages	Small Business Committee	Sep 6, 2017
115-10	MAKING WASHINGTON WORK FOR AMERICA'S SMALL BUSINESSES53 pages	Small Business Committee	Mar 22, 2017

Show all 6 hearings

CRS reports 1

Congressional Research Service work that CRS links to this bill or the law it became, newest first.

Cite it 1

Products on other subjects that cite it, usually among other measures.

Product	Title	Kind	Published
R40860	Small Business Size Standards: A Historical Analysis of Contemporary Issues	Report	Jun 15, 2022

Related bills 4

Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.

Bill	Title	Relationship	Latest action
HR 5	Regulatory Accountability Act of 2017	Related bill	Mar 29, 2017
HR 527	Small Business Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act of 2015	Reintroduction of	Feb 9, 2015
S 584	Small Business Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act	Related bill	Dec 14, 2017
HR 6330	Small Business Runway Extension Act of 2018	Related bill	Dec 17, 2018

Titles 2

Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.

Official Title as Introduced: To amend chapter 6 of title 5, United States Code (commonly known as the Regulatory Flexibility Act), to ensure complete analysis of potential impacts on small entities of rules, and for other purposes.
Short Titles as Introduced: Small Business Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act of 2017

Subjects

Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Government Operations and Politics.

Text 1

Each version as it was printed, newest first.

Jan 3, 2017Introduced in House

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Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.