House GOP presses agencies on small business rules

House GOP lawmakers are launching a sweeping oversight effort aimed at ferreting out how agencies across the federal government weigh the potential impact on small businesses when crafting regulations.

House Small Business Republicans, led by Chair Roger Williams of Texas, Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer of Missouri and Rep. Beth Van Duyne of Texas, sent letters to 25 agencies Wednesday about their compliance with laws that require them to analyze the effects of new rules on small employers and to produce compliance guides for those firms. The committee’s push is designed to shield small businesses from burdensome regulation.

The targets include the EPA, the DOL, the IRS and the CFPB. In the letters, committee Republicans cite examples where they said agency regulatory work has fallen short when it comes to small business impact.