Sponsors (31)
The bill gives small businesses stronger procedural tools and forces agencies to account for indirect costs and review rules more transparently, but it imposes new administrative burdens on agencies, risks legal uncertainty if reviews are missed, can delay implementation of protections, and creates potential unfunded mandates by forbidding new appropriations.
Small businesses (including owners and operators) get formal, earlier opportunities to contest agency certifications and to see and comment on guidance tied to costly rules, increasing their ability to prevent, shape, or avoid expensive regulatory burdens.
Agencies must account for foreseeable indirect costs and conduct timely reviews of existing rules, improving transparency and oversight and making it more likely outdated or unduly costly regulations will be identified and reconsidered.
Requiring agencies to publish and accept comment on guidance tied to significant rules can reduce surprise enforcement, improve compliance clarity, and improve rule quality by exposing agencies to practical information from affected parties.
Federal agencies will face substantial additional administrative workload, new analyses, and tighter procedural deadlines (e.g., 10- and 30‑day timelines), increasing agency costs and slowing some rulemaking processes.
The added analyses, publication, and comment requirements could raise compliance and administrative costs for agencies and regulated parties, which may be passed on to consumers or divert funds from program services or enforcement.
If agencies miss required reviews or fail to participate in review processes, affected rules may temporarily cease to apply (or be in legal limbo), creating legal uncertainty and disrupting regulated business and public activities.
Based on analysis of 5 sections of legislative text.
Requires agencies to assess and disclose indirect costs to small entities, creates a petition-based third‑party review of 'no significant impact' certifications, mandates posting/comment on guidance, and enforces 10‑year reviews.
Official title: To amend title 5, United States Code, to require greater transparency for Federal regulatory decisions that impact small businesses, and for other purposes.
Introduced February 10, 2025 by Brad Finstad · Last progress February 10, 2025
Requires federal agencies to analyze, disclose, and consider indirect costs to small businesses when making regulatory flexibility determinations; creates a formal third‑party petition and review process for agency certifications that rules will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities; requires public posting and comment on guidance tied to rules with significant small‑entity impacts; and imposes consequences if agencies fail to complete required 10‑year reviews of existing rules. The bill adds concrete timelines for agency actions and for third‑party petition handling, and forbids new appropriations for implementing the law.