U.S. Chamber Hails Senate Passage of Small Business Paperwork Relief Bill

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The United States Chamber of Commerce today applauded the Senate's action to reduce the staggering paperwork burden currently facing small businesses generated by federal agencies.

"We welcome the Senate to our commitment to easing the mountain of paperwork government regulators place on small businesses," said Bruce Josten, Chamber executive vice president. "By requiring agencies to provide regulatory assistance to 23 million American small businesses, we can start to make molehills out of mountains."

Our nation's businesses spent approximately 7 billion hours filling out federal paperwork in 1998, according to Office of Management and Budget. The cost associated with this paperwork burden is estimated at $229 billion, annually, and that does not take into account state and local requirements.

The "Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2001," S. 1271, introduced by Senator Voinovich (R-OH) and co-sponsored by Senator Lincoln (D-AR), will help small businesses cope with the paperwork requirements and regulations generated by the federal government. The measure requires the director of the OMB to publish in the Federal Register and make available on the Internet an up-to-date list of compliance assistance resources for small businesses, and requires that each agency establish one point of contact in the agency to act as a liaison between the agency and small businesses.

With the ultimate goal of substantially reducing paperwork requirements facing small businesses, the legislation establishes a task force to study the feasibility of streamlining information collection requirements. This process also opens the possibility of having an interactive federal Internet site devoted to giving small businesses a better way to understand their total federal regulatory requirements.

"This is a big victory for the Chamber and small businesses," continued Josten. "This bill is a welcome example of good government, especially at a time when small businesses need every bit of help they can get in our fragile economy."

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world's largest business federation representing more than three million businesses and organizations of every size, sector and region.

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