Republican Senators Investigate Regulatory Burden of Healthcare Reform on America’s Small Businesses

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Three key Republican Senators today asked Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Advocacy Chief Counsel Winslow Sargeant to provide specific examples of how his office is protecting small businesses from the onslaught of new regulations that are being implemented as part of the healthcare reform legislation signed into law last year.  In their letter, Senators Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine), Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), and Michael B. Enzi (R-Wyoming) requested that Dr. Sargeant provide them with information on outreach his office is undertaking, as well as feedback and comments that small businesses are providing the Office of Advocacy on the slew of regulatory actions relating to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).

“With this flood of regulation, and the seeming willingness of the Administration to bypass important small business protections like Regulatory Flexibility Act analyses, it is more important than ever for the Office of Advocacy to advocate on behalf of small businesses,” the Senators wrote.  “As the Ranking Members of the U.S. Senate committees responsible for oversight of the SBA and the implementation of the new health care law, we are committed to holding the federal government accountable and making sure the concerns of small businesses are considered in this process.”

The Senators also noted in their letter that since passage of PPACA over a year ago, the Administration has worked to promulgate scores of new federal regulations, with a recent analysis totaling the number of pages in the Federal Register containing notices and regulations pertaining to PPACA at 6,578.  “Going forward, we will take such actions as are necessary to make sure that SBA is adequately advocating on behalf of America’s small businesses, especially as they prepare to confront numerous new rules, regulations, mandates, and requirements stemming from the new health care law,” the Senators said.

Senator Snowe is Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, while Senator Hatch is the Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, and Senator Enzi is the Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee.

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