"The Top 10 Regulations" the Federal Government Should Review and Reform

On February 28, 2008, the federal government’s Office of Advocacy for small businesses announced the 2008 “Top 10 Rules for Review and Reform.” These top ten regulations were selected from a list of more than 80 rules nominated by small business owners and their representatives as part of Advocacy’s Regulatory Review and Reform (r3) initiative.

Many in government and in Congress do not understand the cumulative impact of regulation on business, particularly small firms. The r3 initiative being pursued by the Office of Advocacy is a systematic approach in identifying regulations that may be outdated, duplicative, ineffective or counter productive. Research conducted by Office of Advocacy found that regulation and red tape costs the economy $1.1 trillion per year. The per-employee cost of regulation is staggering for small business – more than $7,000 per worker!

The Top Ten rules have been sent to the relevant agencies for consideration and action, and the Office of Advocacy plans to track agency action on these rules. The office has posted the list on its website (www.sba.gov/advo/r3), and they plan to issue an update on the status of agency reviews twice a year.

According to the Office of Advocacy, “The 2008 Top 10 rules were chosen on the basis of several factors: (1) whether the rule could reasonably be tailored to accomplish its intended objectives while reducing the impact on small businesses or small communities; (2) whether the rule being nominated has ever been reviewed for its impact on small entities; (3) whether technology, economic conditions, or other factors have changed since the rule was originally written; (4) whether the rule imposes duplicative requirements; and (5) the overall importance of the rule to small businesses and small communities.”

The Top Ten list includes rules ranging from how the government runs reverse auctions for online procurement and its impact on small firms, to a call that requests the IRS simplify the home office business deduction for home-based businesses. You can learn more about the r3 initiative and how agencies are doing in reviewing these rules by visiting www.sba.gov/advo/r3.