The order requires all federal agencies, including independent agencies, to submit 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.

Plans must be submitted within 90 days. According to the SBA, agencies have 180 days to execute these plans and must consider the Office of Advocacy’s comments on their effectiveness before their implementation.

Thomas M. Sullivan, chief counsel for the Office of Advocacy, stated that President Bush “promised to tear down the regulatory barrier 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.”

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce also applauded the order. “Everyone knows that small business is the fastest growing area of our economy,” said Giovanni Coratolo, the chamber’s director of small business policy. “Small businesses have long been overburdened by complex and sometimes unnecessary bureaucratic red tape. On average, they incur up to 60 percent more in compliance costs than larger businesses, which has had a negative impact on the [small businesses’] bottom line and our overall economy.”

Publication date: 08/19/2002