S-4674-119
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.
Sponsored by Rick Scott (R-FL)
What it does
This bill would direct the Small Business Administration's Chief Counsel for Advocacy to create a "Red Tape Hotline" — accessible by phone, email, or web form — within 180 days of enactment. Small businesses and other small entities could use the hotline to report federal rules, guidance documents, or agency policies they find burdensome. The Chief Counsel would be required to submit an annual report to Congress and the SBA Administrator summarizing the complaints received, identifying the agencies involved, and recommending ways to reduce regulatory burdens on small entities.
Who benefits
Small businesses across all industries and sectors, particularly those in heavily regulated fields such as agriculture, manufacturing, financial services, and healthcare. Small nonprofits and other small entities that must comply with federal rules. The SBA's Office of Advocacy, which would gain a new formal channel for gathering data to support its existing mission. Members of Congress seeking structured information on regulatory burdens. Rural and geographically dispersed small businesses that may have fewer resources to navigate regulatory compliance.
Who is hurt
Federal agencies whose rules are frequently reported may face increased political and institutional pressure to revise or withdraw guidance, even when those rules serve protective purposes. Workers, consumers, or communities protected by the regulations being reported could be indirectly affected if agencies respond to hotline data by weakening rules. The SBA's Office of Advocacy would bear new administrative costs to operate the hotline and produce annual reports. Larger businesses — which are not eligible to submit complaints — would not have access to this reporting channel.
Supporters argue
Supporters argue that small businesses, which employ nearly half of the U.S. private-sector workforce, disproportionately bear the cost of federal regulatory compliance because they lack the legal and administrative staff that large corporations use to manage it. They contend that the hotline would give the SBA's Office of Advocacy — which already has a statutory mandate to represent small business interests — a structured, data-driven mechanism to identify the most burdensome rules and make targeted recommendations, rather than relying on anecdotal or industry-lobbied input. The annual reporting requirement, they argue, creates accountability and a public record that Congress can use to conduct meaningful oversight.
Opponents argue
Opponents argue that the hotline would create a one-sided feedback mechanism that systematically amplifies complaints about regulations while providing no equivalent channel for the workers, consumers, or communities those regulations protect — skewing the data the SBA and Congress receive. They contend that agencies already conduct small business impact analyses under the Regulatory Flexibility Act, making the hotline duplicative and potentially a vehicle for coordinated industry campaigns to pressure agencies into weakening rules that serve legitimate public health, safety, or environmental purposes. The annual report's recommendations, they argue, could be used to justify deregulatory actions without full consideration of the benefits those rules provide.
Constitutional context
No significant constitutional issue is raised by this bill. Congress has broad authority under Article I to structure and direct executive branch agencies, including the SBA, and to require reporting to Congress. This bill does not delegate new rulemaking authority to an agency, raise Commerce Clause questions, or implicate recent doctrinal shifts under West Virginia v. EPA (2022) or Loper Bright v. Raimondo (2024).
Checks and balances
The legislative branch gains a new structured information channel through the mandatory annual report; the Chief Counsel for Advocacy — an existing executive branch officer — operates the hotline, and Congress retains oversight authority over both the SBA and the agencies whose rules are reported.
Historical precedent
The Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 and its 1996 amendments (the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act) similarly directed the SBA's Office of Advocacy to monitor and report on the impact of federal regulations on small businesses, establishing the closest direct analogue to this bill's reporting and advocacy functions.