Ernst Slashes the Red Tape
Her new bill requires federal agencies to prove that new regulations are legal, not harmful.
WASHINGTON – After the Biden administration enacted more than $1.8 trillion in regulations that added 356 million new hours of paperwork, Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship Chair Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) is undoing the damage with legislation aimed at disrupting the bloated bureaucracy.
Ernst’s Prove It Act requires federal agencies to demonstrate that any new regulation is compliant with existing laws and considers both the direct and indirect costs placed on small businesses.
“As chair of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, unleashing Main Street by slashing red tape is a top priority,” said Ernst. “We are curbing the bloated bureaucracy and empowering job creators to innovate and lead us forward. If Washington thinks more regulations are needed, it will have to prove it.”
Congressman Brad Finstad (R-Minn.) is introducing companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.
“As a member of the House Committee on Small Business, I am committed to protecting Main Street business owners in southern Minnesota from costly and burdensome regulations,” said Finstad. “The Prove It Act, which passed the House of Representatives in the 118th Congress with bipartisan support, is commonsense legislation that gives small business owners a seat at the regulatory table and holds federal agencies accountable for the impacts of their regulations. I’m proud to reintroduce this important legislation and look forward to continuing to fight against overregulation.”
The Prove It Act would:
- Create a way for small businesses to raise concerns when regulators do not consider both the direct and indirect costs their regulations place on them;
- Allow small businesses to ask their chief advocate in government to review agencies’ work and make the government regulators prove they are fully compliant with existing laws;
- Exempt small businesses from the agency’s regulations altogether if regulators fail to comply with this review process; and
- Ensure small businesses can easily access preexisting guidance documents online and create a way for small businesses to directly raise questions or concerns with their regulators.
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