Small Business Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act of 2015
Latest action. Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
Small Business Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act of 2015
This bill amends the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 (RFA) and the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Act of 1996 (SBREFA) to revise and expand the rulemaking requirements and procedures of federal agencies (excluding Congress, U.S. courts, U.S. territories and possessions, and the District of Columbia) that affect small entities.
(Sec. 2) RFA is amended to adopt the broader definition of "rule" set forth in the Administrative Procedure Act, but excludes from such definition: (1) rules that pertain to the protection of veterans' rights and benefits and to consumer credit extended to service members and dependents, or (2) rules of particular (and not general) applicability relating to rates, wages, and other financial indicators. The concept of "economic impact" is added to RFA to require agencies to consider any direct economic effect of a proposed rule on small entities and any indirect economic effect on such entities that is reasonably foreseeable and that results from such rule.
The applicability of RFA is expanded to cover: (1) rules that have a beneficial significant economic impact on small entities, (2) rules that affect Tribal organizations, (3) land management plans developed by the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management, and (4) certain collection-of-information and record keeping activities of the Internal Revenue Service.
The definition of "small organization" under RFA is revised to mean any not-for-profit enterprise, including a local labor organization, with a net worth not exceeding $7 million and with no more than 500 employees.
(Sec. 3) Each agency is required to: (1) include in its regulatory agenda (published in the Federal Register every April and October) a brief description of the sector of the North American Industrial Classification System that is primarily affected by a proposed or promulgated rule that is likely to have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities, and (2) prominently display a plain language summary of the information in the regulatory agenda on its website.
The summary continues for 14 more paragraphs. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Passed House amended" stage on February 5, 2015. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on February 9, 2015: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 114th Congress (2015-16), 329 of the 10,233 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.2 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
STEVE CHABOT (R-OH) introduced it on January 26, 2015, and 21 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 2 Democrats, 19 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on January 26, 2015, 4245 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 4231 days ago, on February 9, 2015.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 114th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2017 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers