Legislation improving access to small businesses data collected by the federal government passed in the House of Representatives on Monday.
The Improving Access to Small Business Information Act, a bipartisan bill introduced by U.S. Reps. Young Kim (R-CA) and Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), was passed on a vote of 387 to 12. The legislation aims to streamline federal regulations around access to information and to better support small businesses.
“California is home to over 4.2 million small businesses. Burdensome regulations are getting in the way of the federal government collecting basic data on small business challenges, hurting our government’s ability to support entrepreneurs,” Kim said. “The Improving Access to Small Business Information Act cuts through unnecessary red tape so the Office of the Advocate can ask the right questions, collect timely feedback, and do its job — help small businesses access capital and grow.”
The legislation specifies that some work, like conducting field surveys, by the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation (Advocate), are not a collection of information under the Paperwork Reduction Act. The move would allow the Advocate to make accessing to capital without bureaucratic delays a priority.
Officials said the legislation would allow the Advocate to take some actions without needed to follow the usual paperwork collection protocols. The exclusion would mean the Advocate would not have to submit information collections to the Office of Management and Budget for approval which would streamline processes, officials said. Some requirements, like maintaining compliance with some sections related to collecting information, would still apply.
The bill now heads to the Senate floor for consideration.