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March 14, 2001
(House Rules)


H.R. 327 - Small Business Paperwork Relief Act
(Rep. Burton (R) Indiana)

The Administration has no objection to House passage of H.R. 327. The Administration shares the concerns of the Congress in striving to reduce the regulatory and paperwork burdens on small business and therefore shares the goals that underlie this bill. However, the Administration will work with Congress to ensure that the bill's provisions will, in practice, succeed in advancing the bill's fundamental goal of reducing the paperwork burden that Federal agencies impose on small businesses.

The Administration has concerns regarding the provision requiring OMB to annually publish a list of all Federal collections of information requirements applicable to small-business concerns organized, for example, by North American Industrial Classification System Code. The Administration fully supports the goal of assisting small businesses in understanding and complying with Federal paperwork requirements. However, the Administration is concerned that the length of time and the deployment of resources necessary to organize such an annual OMB report may not, in practice, meet this goal in the short term. Agencies already provide compliance guidance directly to small businesses, including guidance required under the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 (SBREFA).

The Administration appreciates the goals of the bill and supports reducing the regulatory and paperwork burden imposed on the Nation's small businesses. Accordingly, the Administration will work with Congress to ensure that the bill will most effectively achieve its intended result.