Statement of Administration Policy: S. 942 - Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996

(Senate)
(Bond (R) MO)

The Administration is committed to responding to the legitimate concerns of small businesses and supports passage of s. 942 with the changes made in the Manager's Amendment. The White House Conference on Small Business produced many laudable recommendations which are reflected in the bill. Specifically, the Administration supports the provisions of S. 942 that enhance the ability of small businesses to participate meaningfully in the regulatory system, strengthen the compliance assistance available to small businesses, and allow judicial review of agencies' regulatory flexibility analyses. While several concerns raised previously by the Administration have been resolved in the Manager's Amendment, the Administration remains concerned, with those provisions of S. 942 that:

• Amend the Equal Access to Justice Act to permit small businesses that have broken the law to be awarded their attorneys fees, even when the Government's position in enforcing the law was reasonable; and
• Require time-consuming and resource-intensive review by selected industry representatives of agency rules that are already subject to notice and comment by the public, as well as review by 0MB the Congress (assuming passage of the Nickles-Reid amendment), and the courts.

The Administration looks forward to working with the Congress to address these remaining concerns with the bill.