Chair Ernst Equips SBA to Make Main Street Great Again

WASHINGTON – Today, at the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship hearing on the nominations of William Briggs to serve as Deputy Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) and Dr. Casey Mulligan to serve as Chief Counsel for Advocacy, Chair Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) applauded Administrator Kelly Loeffler and emphasized the need for more strong leadership to continue unleashing Main Street.

Ernst also highlighted her Prove It Act that would require agencies to consider the direct and indirect costs of regulations to ensure that small businesses do not drown in red tape.

Watch Chair Ernst’s full opening remarks here.

Ernst’s full opening remarks:

“Thank you, Mr. Briggs and Dr. Mulligan, for your willingness to serve in these roles.

“Today, we are considering nominees for two very important positions.

“I greatly appreciate the time you’ve spent meeting with me and my colleagues prior to this hearing.

“I want to take a minute to recognize some of the family and friends here supporting you both today. First, I want to recognize some of Mr. Briggs’ family, his parents, Dodie and Bill, as well as his siblings Susan, Robert, Ted, and his nephew, Braden.

“And then, for Dr. Mulligan, I would like to welcome your wife, Julia, and three of your five children, John, Elizabeth, and Maeve. We appreciate you all making the trip here.

“I appreciate that you both have fully embraced the Committee’s standard, yet extensive, vetting of your experiences and backgrounds in advance of today’s hearing and our upcoming vote on your nominations.

“As I’ve shared with both of you, I believe substantial reforms must be made to get the SBA back in shape, and that is going to require strong leadership.

“I am thrilled with Administrator Loeffler’s actions so far, but she will need a strong partner and that is why the Deputy Administrator role is so critical.

“Traditionally, SBA administers programs and services falling into three main buckets: counseling, contracting, and access to capital.

“Mr. Briggs, previously you worked at SBA during the critical implementation of the Paycheck Protection Program. These funds were vital to ensuring main street business across America kept their doors open during the pandemic.

“Unfortunately, there has been fraud in SBA’s programs, especially in the COVID Economic Injury Disaster Loan, or EIDL program, and I want to know how you will continue to work with me to root out these fraudsters.

“Small businesses needed help, and American taxpayers provided it, but it is completely unacceptable that bad actors took advantage of this emergency assistance.

“Even more alarming, the federal government hasn’t held these criminals accountable. But that must change – so I look forward to hearing how you will recoup these funds.

“As you know well, COVID recovery is not the only challenge small businesses faced over the last five years.

“In my home state of Iowa, small businesses are the lifeblood of our rural communities, and for too long they’ve been crushed with red tape and burdensome, and often unnecessary, reporting requirements, with no one caring about how that affects day-to-day operations.

“This brings me to the role of Chief Counsel for Advocacy.

“Dr. Mulligan, I am impressed with your background and extensive work to ensure economic analysis properly reflects the costs to small businesses.

“The cost of regulations for small businesses is out of control. The last Administration promulgated more than eleven hundred final rules costing 1.8 trillion dollars.

“The Biden Administration’s regulatory costs were 600 times higher than that of the first Trump Administration and 3.7 times higher than that of the Obama Administration.

“I have been encouraged by President Trump’s executive orders to freeze and roll back regulations.

“This, to me, shows a clear understanding of the need to evaluate the effects, both direct and indirect, that government regulation is having on America’s economic growth.

“That said, Advocacy’s role remains true regardless of party — to ensure that a strong Chief Counsel stands up for the little guy and warns regulators when small firms will be harmed. 

“I have introduced the Prove It Act again this Congress, which requires agencies to consider both the direct and indirect costs placed on small businesses when promulgating regulations.

“It also creates a process where small entities and represented organizations can ask Advocacy to formally review an agency’s certification of a rule and prove it is fully compliant with the law.

“I want to ensure that agencies respect and adhere to the existing laws and give Advocacy further tools to dissuade federal bureaucrats from making poor decisions that harm small businesses.

“This is why Advocacy needs a confirmed Chief Counsel, and I am pleased that the President acted swiftly with this nomination.

“I want to again thank you both for being here, and I look forward to your testimony.”

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