NEWSRELEASE
For Release: August 15, 2002
Contact:
President Bush Signs Executive Order To Relieve Regulatory
Burden
On Small Business
WASHINGTON, D.C. - President George W. Bush delivered on a major piece of his Small Business Plan by signing an Executive Order that requires federal agencies, when writing new rules and regulations, to implement policies protecting small businesses.
The order requires all federal agencies, including independent agencies, to submit within 90 days to the Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) their plans on how they account for small business in their rulemaking process.
Agencies have 180 days to execute these plans and must consider Advocacy’s comments on their effectiveness before their implementation.
“President Bush has delivered on the promise he made to small businesses when he introduced his Small Business Plan,” said Thomas M. Sullivan, Chief Counsel for Advocacy. “He promised to tear down the regulatory barriers to job creation for small business and give small business owners a voice in the complex and confusing federal regulatory process. This order does just that,” he said.
Sullivan also praised President Bush’s regulatory advisor, Dr. John Graham, Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA). “Dr. Graham’s team at OIRA has worked closely with the Office of Advocacy to hold government accountable to small business. They know our research shows small businesses create close to 75% of the net new jobs, yet regulatory compliance costs them 60% more per employee than their big business counterparts. Adding more regulations to already overburdened small businesses makes this worse. With this order, OIRA and Advocacy will work even closer together to correct this imbalance,” he said.
Strengthening the Office of Advocacy was also a recommendation made by small business owners at the President’s Economic Forum held in Waco, Texas. The order meets the recommendation and makes a difference because the President is holding his cabinet accountable to needs and concerns of small business.
The entire Executive Order, “Proper Consideration of Small Entities in Agency Rulemaking,” is located at <http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/08/20020814-2.html>.
For more information, visit the Office of Advocacy website at http://www.sba.gov/advo.
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Created by Congress in 1976, the Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is an independent voice for small business within the federal government. Appointed by the President and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, the Chief Counsel for Advocacy directs the office. The Chief Counsel advances the views, concerns, and interests of small business before Congress, the White House, federal agencies, federal courts, and state policy makers. Economic research, policy analyses, and small business outreach help identify issues of concern. Regional Advocates and an office in Washington, DC support the Chief Counsel’s efforts. For more information on the Office of Advocacy, visit http://www.sba.gov/advo, or call (202) 205-6533.