[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 67 (Wednesday, May 22, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4733-S4737]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SMALL BUSINESS PAPERWORK RELIEF ACT
Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the
Governmental Affairs Committee be discharged from further consideration
of H.R. 327, the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act, and that the
Senate proceed to its consideration.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The clerk will report the bill by title.
[[Page S4734]]
The legislative clerk read as follows:
A bill (H.R. 327) to amend chapter 35 of title 44, United
States Code, for the purpose of facilitating compliance by
small businesses with certain Federal paperwork requirements,
and to establish a task force to examine the feasibility of
streamlining paperwork requirements applicable to small
businesses.
There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
Mr. REID. Mr. President, I understand that Senator Voinovich, Senator
Lieberman, and others have an amendment at the desk.
I ask unanimous consent that the amendment be agreed to, the motion
to reconsider be laid upon the table, the bill, as amended, be read
three times and passed; that the motion to reconsider be laid upon the
table; that the title amendment, which is at the desk, be agreed to;
and that any statements relating thereto be printed in the Record,
without any intervening action or debate.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The amendment (No. 3545) was agreed to.
(The amendment is printed in today's Record under ``Text of
Amendments.'')
The amendment (No. 3546) was agreed to, as follows:
Amend the title so as to read: ``A bill to amend chapter 35
of title 44, United States Code, for the purpose of
facilitating compliance by small business concerns with
certain Federal paperwork requirements, to establish a task
force to examine information collection and dissemination,
and for other purposes.''
The bill (H.R. 327), as amended, was passed.
Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President. I am very pleased to support final
passage of H.R. 327, the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2002,
with an amendment in the nature of a substitute proposed by Senator
Voinovich and me and Senators Bond, Bunning, Carnahan, Carper, Cleland,
Collins, Conrad, Dayton, Jeffords, Kerry, Leahy, Lincoln, Miller, and
Thompson.
America's small businesses are a critical part of the nation's
economy and a key driver of new job growth. Small businesses face
particular challenges in complying with government information-
collection requirements. H.R. 327 contains several provisions to help
small businesses in this area. This bill aids small businesses in
understanding and complying with Federal information-collection
requirements, mandates a study of how to streamline information-
collection requirements for small businesses and how to strengthen the
dissemination of information by the Federal Government, and directs
that certain data be compiled about enforcement activities involving
small entities.
Last year, Senator Voinovich introduced S. 1271, which is a companion
bill to H.R. 327, on behalf of himself and Senators Lincoln and Leahy.
The bill now has 13 additional cosponsors: Senators Bond, Bunning,
Carnahan, Carper, Cleland, Collins, Conrad, Dayton, Jeffords, Kerry,
Lieberman, Miller, and Thompson. The Governmental Affairs Committee
reported out S. 1271 on November 14, 2001, and the Senate passed the
bill by unanimous consent on December 17, 2001. The House had earlier
passed H.R. 327, and, following Senate action on S. 1271, I worked with
Members of the Senate and the House--primarily, Senator Voinovich and
Representatives Burton, Waxman, Ose, and Tierney--to try and resolve
differences between the House and Senate bills. These discussions were
successful, resulting in a bipartisan, bicameral agreement on consensus
legislation, and Senator Voinovich and I and other Senators are
offering this consensus legislation as an amendment in the nature of a
substitute to H.R. 327 for final passage by the Senate.
I thank Senator Voinovich and his staff for their leadership and hard
work on this legislation in the Senate, and also Representatives
Burton, Waxman, Ose, and Tierney and their staffs for their leadership
and hard work in the House and for working with us to reach consensus
on this valuable legislation to help small businesses.
Senator Voinovich and I have prepared a section-by-section
description of this consensus amendment, including a summary of the
purposes and legislative history of this legislation, and I ask
unanimous consent that it be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record as follows:
H.R. 327--Consensus Amendment, Purposes and Summary, Section-by-Section
Description, and Legislative History
i. purposes and summary
H.R. 327, as amended, helps small businesses. The bill aids
small businesses in understanding and complying with Federal
information-collection requirements, mandates a study of how
to streamline information-collection requirements for small
businesses and how to strengthen the dissemination of
information by the Federal Government, and directs that
certain data be compiled about enforcement activities
involving small entities. The legislation includes the
following provisions to help small businesses:
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) will annually
publish in the Federal Register and make available on the
Internet a list of the compliance assistance resources
available to small businesses.
Each agency will establish a single point of contact within
the agency to serve as liaison with small business concerns
with respect to the collection of information and the control
of paperwork.
Each agency will make efforts to further reduce the
information collection burden for very small business
concerns with fewer than 25 employees.
An interagency task force will be convened to study
measures to streamline information collection requirements
for small businesses and to strengthen dissemination of
information by the Federal Government. Among other things,
the task force will identify ways to integrate the collection
of information from small businesses across agencies and
programs, will make recommendations for electronic reporting
and dissemination of information, and will recommend a plan
for an interactive government website to help small
businesses understand which federal information-collection
requirements apply to its business.
Each agency will submit an initial report and final report
on the number of enforcement actions in which civil penalties
were assessed, the number of such actions against small
entities, the number of such actions in which civil penalties
were reduced or waived, and the amount of such reductions and
waivers. Requiring this information will facilitate
congressional oversight.
ii. section-by-section description of the consensus amendment
Section 1. Short title
Section 1 of the bill provides that the Act may be cited as
the ``Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2002.''
Section 2. Facilitation of compliance with federal paperwork
requirements
Publication of list of compliance-assistance resources.
Subsection (a) of section 2 of the bill adds a new paragraph
to the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), at 44 U.S.C.
Sec. 3504(c)(6). The new paragraph (6), read together with
existing subsection (c), requires that, with respect to the
collection of information and the control of paperwork, the
Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) will
publish in the Federal Register and make available on the
Internet a list of compliance assistance resources available
to small businesses. The Director is instructed to do this in
consultation with the Small Business Administration. The
applicable definition of ``collection of information'' in the
PRA, at 44 U.S.C. Sec. 3502(3), includes an agency's
questions and recordkeeping requirements posted to, or
imposed upon, 10 or more persons to obtain information or
require its disclosure. The purpose of this subsection of the
bill is to provide small businesses a resource to help them
quickly and efficiently find the compliance assistance they
need.
Agency point of contact. Subsection (b) of section 2 of the
bill adds a new subsection to the PRA, at 44 U.S.C.
Sec. 3506(i), requiring that, with respect to the collection
of information and the control of paperwork, each agency must
establish one point of contact to act as liaison between the
agency and small business concerns. The applicable definition
of ``agency,'' as set forth in the PRA at 44 U.S.C.
Sec. 3502(1), includes generally any department, Government
corporation, or other establishment in the executive branch,
including independent regulatory agencies. The bill also
makes applicable the definition of ``small business concern''
in the Small Business Act, at 15 U.S.C. Sec. 632. The purpose
of this subsection of the bill is to establish the place in
each agency that small businesses can contact when they need
help with respect to information collection or the control of
paperwork.
Further efforts to reduce paperwork for very small
enterprises. Subsection (c) of section 2 of the amendment
adds a new paragraph to the PRA, at 44 U.S.C.
Sec. 3506(c)(4), requiring that, in addition to the
requirements of the PRA regarding the reduction of
information collection burdens for small business concerns
generally, each agency must make efforts to further reduce
the information collection burden for small business concerns
with fewer than 25 employees.
Section 3. Establishment of task force on information collection and
dissemination
Section 3(a) of the bill adds a new section to the PRA, at
44 U.S.C. Sec. 3520, entitled ``Establishment of task force
on information collection and dissemination.''
[[Page S4735]]
Establishment of task force and statement of purposes.
Subsection (a) of new 44 U.S.C. Sec. 3520 establishes a task
force to study the feasibility of streamlining requirements
with respect to small business concerns regarding collection
of information and strengthening dissemination of
information.
Selection of task force members. Subsection (b) of new 44
U.S.C. Sec. 3520 provides for the selection of individuals to
serve on the task force. The Director of OMB will determine
the number of representatives to be designated by each of the
several departments and agencies listed in the bill (subject
to the minimum requirements stated in the bill), and will
also name two additional agencies that will designate
representatives on the task force. The heads of those
departments and agencies will select individuals to serve as
members of the task force. The Director also will select a
representative of the Director, who will convene and chair
the task force.
Task force assignments. Paragraphs (1) through (6) of
subsection (c) of new 44 U.S.C. Sec. 3520 direct the task
force to do the following:
Paragraph (1)--Identify ways to integrate information
collection and examine whether, and to what extent, it would
be feasible and desirable to require agencies to consolidate
requirements regarding collections of information within and
across agencies (without negatively impacting the
effectiveness of underlying laws and regulations) in order to
enable each small business concern to submit required
information--(A) to one point of contact in the agency, (B)
in a single format, such as an electronic reporting system,
or (C) with synchronized reporting for submissions having the
same frequency, such as by allowing all quarterly reports to
be submitted on the same date each quarter, allowing all
annual reports to be submitted on the same date each year,
etc.
Paragraph (2)--Examine whether, and to what extent, it
would be feasible and beneficial to small businesses to the
Director to publish a list of all collections of information
applicable to small business concerns organized by North
American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code, by
industrial sector description, or in another manner by which
small business concerns can more easily identify applicable
requirements.
Paragraph (3)--Examine the savings and develop
recommendations for implementing--(A) electronic submissions
to the Federal Government, and (B) interactive reporting
systems providing immediate feedback to the submitter to
assure that data being submitted are appropriate.
Paragraph (4)--Make recommendations to improve the
electronic dissemination of information collected under
Federal requirements.
Paragraph (5)--Recommend a plan for the development of an
interactive Internet-based system to allow each small
business to better understand which Federal information-
collection requirements (and where possible, other Federal
regulatory requirements) are applicable, and to more easily
comply with those requirements.
Paragraph (6)--In carrying out its responsibilities,
consider opportunities for the coordination of Federal and
State reporting requirements, and for the coordination among
the points of contact established pursuant to the bill to
enable agencies, e.g., to provide contact information at
other agencies.
Notice-and-comment procedure for task force. Subsection (d)
of new 44 U.S.C. Sec. 3520 requires the task force, by
publication in the Federal Register, to provide notice and an
opportunity for comment on each report in draft form, and to
make provision in each report for the inclusion of any
separate views of task force members and a summary of
significant public comments.
Task force reports. Subsections (e) and (f) of new 44
U.S.C. Sec. 3520 require the task force to submit its first
report not later than one year after enactment of the bill
and its second report not later than two years after
enactment of the bill. The first report will be of the task
force's findings under paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of
subsection (c) of new 44 U.S.C. Sec. 3520, and the second
report will be of the task force's findings under paragraphs
(4) and (5) of subsection (c) of new 44 U.S.C. Sec. 3520.
(Those paragraphs (1) through (5) are summarized above.) The
task force shall submit both its first and second reports to
the Director of OMB, to certain committees of Congress
identified in the bill, and to the Small Business and
Agriculture Regulatory Enforcement Ombudsman designated under
15 U.S.C. Sec. 657(b).
Termination of task force. Subsection (g) of new 44 U.S.C.
Sec. 3520 provides that the task force shall terminate upon
completion of its work.
Definition of ``small business concern.'' Subsection (h) of
new 44 U.S.C. Sec. 3520 makes applicable the definition of
``small business concern'' in the Small Business Act, 15
U.S.C. Sec. 632.
Section 4. Regulatory enforcement reports
Section 4 of the bill requires that each agency shall
submit an initial report and a final report on each of the
following:
(A) The number of enforcement actions in which a civil
penalty is assessed.
(B) The number of enforcement actions in which a civil
penalty is assessed against a small entity.
(C) The number of enforcement actions described under items
(A) and (B), above, in which the civil penalty is reduced or
waived.
(D) The total monetary amount of the reductions or waivers
referred to under item (C), above.
Each report shall include the definitions, selected at the
discretion of the agency submitting the report, of the terms
``enforcement actions,'' ``reduction or waiver,'' and ``small
entity'' as used in the report. This provision, recognizing
that agencies have different policies governing their
enforcement activities and different ways of tracking these
activities, seeks to avoid placing undue reporting burdens on
agencies.
The initial report shall include information with respect
to the 1-year period beginning on October 1, 2002, and shall
be submitted not later than December 31, 2003. The final
report shall include information with respect to the 1-year
period beginning on October 1, 2003, and shall be submitted
not later than December 31, 2004. Each agency shall submit
the initial report and the final report to certain committees
of Congress identified in the bill and to the Small Business
and Agriculture Regulatory Enforcement Ombudsman designated
under 15 U.S.C. Sec. 657(b).
For purposes of this section, the term ``agency'' has the
meaning under 5 U.S.C. Sec. 551, which is the definition
under the Administrative Procedures Act, and agencies as so
defined are required to submit the reports under this
section.
iii. legislative history
H.R. 327 was introduced by Rep. Dan Burton on January 31,
2001, and was referred to the Committee on Government Reform
and to the Committee on Small Business. The bill now has 11
cosponsors. At the Government Reform Committee, the bill was
further referred to the Subcommittee on Energy Policy,
Natural Resources and Regulatory Affairs.
On March 15, 2001, H.R. 327 was brought before the
Committee of the Whole House and then before the House. A
managers' amendment in the nature of a substitute was agreed
to by voice vote, and then H.R. 327, as so amended, was
passed by a unanimous vote of 416 to 0. On that same day,
H.R. 327 was received in the Senate and referred to the
Committee on Governmental Affairs.
A companion bill in the Senate, S. 1271, was introduced on
July 30, 2001, by Senator Voinovich, for himself and Senators
Lincoln and Leahy, and was referred to the Governmental
Affairs Committee. The bill now has 13 additional cosponsors:
Senators Bond, Bunning, Carnahan, Carper, Cleland, Collins,
Conrad, Dayton, Jeffords, Kerry, Lieberman, Miller, and
Thompson.
S. 1271 was considered by the Governmental Affairs
Committee at its business meeting on November 14, 2001, where
Senator Voinovich offered an amendment in the nature of a
substitute, which included suggestions made by Senator
Lieberman and others. The Committee adopted the amendment by
voice vote and ordered the bill, as amended, favorably
reported by voice vote.
On December 17, 2001, the Senate by unanimous consent
agreed to a technical amendment to S. 1271 offered on behalf
of Senator Lieberman and an additional amendment offered on
behalf of Senator Kerry, and passed S. 1271 as so amended.
This Consensus Amendment is based primarily on the
provisions of H.R. 327, as it passed the House, and the
provisions of S. 1271, as it passed the Senate. Bipartisan,
bicameral discussions among interested Members of the House
and Senate--principally, Representatives Burton, Waxman, Ose,
and Tierney and Senators Lieberman and Voinovich--yielded
this consensus proposal.
Principal differences between the Consensus Amendment and
the two earlier bills, S. 1271 and H.R. 327, include:
The Consensus Amendment requires that the Director of OMB
publish annually a list of compliance assistance resources
available to small businesses. This requirement was in S.
1271 but not in H.R. 327.
The Consensus Amendment, like H.R. 327, spells out a more
detailed and extensive agenda for the task force than S. 1271
in the areas of electronic submission and dissemination of
information. Also like H.R. 327, the Consensus Amendment
requires the task force to issue two reports, one year after
enactment and two years after enactment, whereas S. 1271
required only a single report one year after enactment.
The Consensus Amendment, like S. 1271, instructs the task
force to examine the feasibility and helpfulness of
publishing an annual list by the Director of OMB of
information-collection requirements applicable to small
business concerns, organized by North American Industrial
Classification or another useful system. H.R. 327 instead
included a requirement that the Director annually publish
such a list.
The Consensus Amendment provides that the task force will
examine whether agencies should be required to allow small
businesses to synchronize reporting for submissions having
the same frequency, e.g., by filing quarterly reports on the
same date each quarter. S. 1271 included no corresponding
provision. H.R. 327, on the other hand, provided that the
task force would examine whether agencies should be required
to allow submissions ``on the same date.'' The Consensus
Amendment provision is derived from H.R. 327, but is
limited to submissions having the same frequency, to
clarify that the provision does not include changing the
frequency of periodic reports, e.g., by converting a
quarterly report into an annual report so that information
for the entire year could be filed ``on the same date'' as
another annual report.
[[Page S4736]]
The Consensus Amendment requires the task force to publish
notice and to provide an opportunity for comment on each
report in draft form, and to make provision in each report
for the inclusion of any separate views of task force members
and a summary of significant public comments. This provision
is found in neither S. 1271 nor H.R. 327.
Like S. 1271, the Consensus Amendment includes a section
requiring agencies to submit reports providing data about
enforcement and penalty actions against both small entities
and all entities. H.R. 327 contains no such provision. The
section in the Consensus Amendment is based on S. 1271, but
with modifications to clarify the agencies' reporting
obligations and to avoid unnecessary burden on agencies.
Whereas the reports under S. 1271 would have been due one
year after enactment and every two years thereafter, the
Consensus Amendment provides lead time by establishing the
first due date on December 31, 2003, and requires one further
report due one year later. Also, the Consensus Amendment
specifies the one-year reporting period to be covered by each
report, and states explicitly that each agency has discretion
in defining certain terms as used in the agency's reports.
Mr. VOINOVICH. Mr. President, I am pleased that today the Senate has
passed H.R. 327, the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2002.
As my colleagues know, small businesses are the backbone of our
economy and significantly important to the fiscal health of the United
States. Small businesses constitute more than 90 percent of this
nation's employers, employ 53 percent of the private workforce, and
create approximately 74 percent of this country's new jobs.
While on the whole, America's small business owners are successful,
the numerous federal paperwork requirements that they must face, I
believe, have had a negative impact on further entrepreneurial growth
in the United States. There is little doubt that America's small
business owners could be even more successful if they were able to
devote more time and resources to their businesses instead of mountains
of federal paperwork. That is why I introduced S. 1271, the Senate
companion to H.R. 327, on July 30, 2001. I was pleased when the Senate
passed S. 1271 on December 17, 2001.
This ``good government'' legislation continues the efforts on the
part of Congress to streamline and reduce paperwork burdens on small
businesses and help increase the productivity of American business. The
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has estimated that the federal
paperwork burden is 7.2 billion hours annually, at a cost of some $190
billion per year. Small business owners are particularly hurt by
regulatory and paperwork burdens. The Small Business Administration
(SBA) estimates that the costs to small businesses are a staggering
$5,100 per employee. While many of these requirements are important and
necessary, the high costs of understanding them and complying with them
can sometimes prevent small businesses from being able to expand or
even stay afloat. In some cases, this burden can deter entrepreneurs
from opening in the first place.
The Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2002 will help improve the
ability of small business owners to understand and comply with federal
regulations and paperwork mandates through the following helpful
provisions:
A requirement for the Office of Management and Budget to annually
publish in the Federal Register and on the Internet a list of the
compliance assistance resources available to small businesses;
A requirement for each federal agency to establish a single point of
contact to help small business owners fill out forms and comply with
federal regulations;
A requirement for each federal agency to make further efforts to
reduce paperwork for small businesses with fewer than 25 employees;
The establishment of an interagency task force to develop an
interactive government web-site to help each small business owner
understand which federal paperwork requirements and regulations apply
to his or her business;
An amendment to the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness
Act (SBREFA) to require that each agency provide information on the
number of enforcement actions in which civil penalties are assessed,
the number of such actions against small entities, the number of such
actions in which civil penalties are reduced or waived, and the
monetary amount of each reduction or waiver.
I am pleased that the Senate has taken action in considering this
important legislation, and I am also pleased that the bill enjoys
bipartisan support. I would particularly like to thank Senator Blache
Lincoln for joining me in introducing this bill. I would also thank
Senators Lieberman and Thompson for cosponsoring this legislation and
for their strong leadership in advancing it through the Governmental
Affairs Committee and the Senate. I would like to thank all of the
other cosponsors of S. 1271, Senators Bond, Bunning, Carnahan, Carper,
Cleland, Conrad, Dayton, Jeffords, Kerry, Leahy, and Miller for their
strong support.
I would also recognize Representatives Dan Burton and Doug Ose and
their staffs for their strong leadership in crafting, introducing and
passing this measure in the House. I would like to thank Representative
Henry Waxman and John Tierney and all the members of the House of
Representatives who supported this bipartisan effort.
The Bush Administration is to be commended for their support of this
bill and I appreciate the valuable recommendations of the Office of
Management and Budget that will make this bill more effective in
helping our Nation's small business owners. It is my hope that the
House of Representatives will pass this final version of this measure
shortly and that we will have a final bill for the President's
signature very soon.
The many business groups who have lent their support and helped us
craft a solid bill are also deserving of mention, particularly: the
National Federation of Independent Businesses; the U.S. Chamber of
Commerce; the American Farm Bureau Federation; the Cleveland Growth
Association; the Associated Builders and Contractors; the National
Association of Convenience Stores; the American Feed Industry
Association; the National Association of Manufacturers; the National
Tooling and Machining Association; National Small Business United; the
National Restaurant Association; the National Pest Management
Association; the Academy of General Dentistry; the American Road and
Transportation Builders Association; the Small Business Coalition for
Regulatory Relief; the Small Business Legislative Council; the Small
Business Survival Committee; the Agricultural Retailer Association; the
Associated General Contractors; the Automotive Parts and Service
Alliance; the Food Marketing Institute; the National Automobile Dealers
Association; the National Business Association; the National Roofing
Contractors Association; the Society of American Florists and the North
American Equipment Dealers Association.
Finally, I would like to thank David Gray, a former employee of my
Subcommittee staff, for all of his hard work on this legislation.
Once again, I am pleased that the Senate has acted to provide relief
to small business owners. This bill will help save time and money and
will allow small business owners the ability to better understand and
comply with federal regulations and paperwork requirements. It is good
for the country and good for our economy, and I thank my colleagues for
their support in passing this bill today.
Mrs. LINCOLN. Mr. President, every once in a while this body passes
legislation that just makes good common sense. Today is such an
occasion. I am pleased that the Senate will vote today on the
conference report on the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act, a bill
that Senator Voinovich and I first introduced in July of 1999.
I want to thank my good friend Senator Voinovich for his leadership
on this issue. His staff members and former staff members, David Gray,
Kathleen Braun, and Kristine Simmons, put in countless hours meeting
with members of the business community, firefighters and the
environmental community to achieve the balance that is represented here
today. I also want to thank Senator Lieberman, without whose help we
could not be here today. Senator Lieberman, as Chairman of the
Governmental Affairs Committee, steered this legislation to its final
form, and Larry Novey of his staff was invaluable. Kelly Rucker Bingel
of my staff worked on this bill from its inception in 1999, and I thank
her for her efforts.
[[Page S4737]]
Since I began public service as a member of the House of
Representatives in January of 1993, I have looked for opportunities to
ease the regulatory burden on small businesses. They are the backbone
of our economy in Arkansas.
As I said when we first introduced this bill in 1999, the federal
government should be a help to small businesses, not a hindrance. We
should always seek to ensure that federal policies don't place undue
burdens on small business owners and tie their hands in red tape.
Small businesses are hit hardest by federal regulations. According to
a recent study conducted for the Small Business Administration, ``firms
employing fewer than 20 employees face an annual regulatory burden of
$6,975 per employee, a burden nearly 60 percent above that facing a
firm employing over 500 employees.'' This does not even take into
account state and local government paperwork.
I have been told that federal paperwork burdens rank just behind
taxes and the cost of health care as the top problems facing members of
the National Federation of Independent Businesses.
This bill establishes a single point-of-contact for small businesses
in each federal agency that governs small businesses. Second, it
requires the OMB Director to annually publish in the Federal Register
and on the Internet a list of compliance assistance resources available
to small businesses. Third, it establishes a task force to determine
how to streamline paperwork requirements for small businesses. It
directs the task force to look at creating a single reporting format
for all agencies that could be filed simultaneously and electronically.
It is our hope that these steps will make it easier for businesses to
access information and will allow policymakers to more easily identify
and eliminate duplicative regulations.
The original version of this bill, S. 1378, from the 106th Congress,
suspended civil fines on small businesses for first-time paperwork
violations if they corrected their error. Our thought behind suspending
fines for first-time violators was that a majority of small business
owners who neglect to file a certain form are simply overwhelmed with
paperwork and don't realize their error. We thought that small business
owners should be given a chance to correct the problem before they were
slapped with a fine. I am disappointed that this final version does not
include the fine suspension, but as I often tell my constituents, we
can't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. So I am delighted to
see final passage of this bill.
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