On Friday, Feb. 17, House Small Business Committee Chairman Roger Williams (R-Texas) and Ranking Member Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.) called on President Joe Biden to nominate a Chief Counsel for the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Advocacy. NSBA applauds this bipartisan effort to strengthen the Office of Advocacy, one of the organization’s recently-voted Top 10 Priorities for small business.
According to Chair Williams, “The Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy is a critical watchdog fighting on behalf of our nation’s primary job creators. It is essential the vacant Chief Counsel for Advocacy role is filled to ensure small businesses are defended against burdensome regulations. I urge President Biden to nominate a qualified candidate to this post and hope he sees the necessity of this position.”
Ranking Member Velazquez went on to say, “The SBA Office of Advocacy serves as the independent voice of small businesses within the government, promoting the concerns of entrepreneurs before all three branches of the federal system. I look forward to working with the Administration to fill the position of Chief Counsel, so the Office of Advocacy can represent small firms as effectively as possible.”
Since 2017—more than five years—the position of Chief Counsel has not been filled, instead relegating the duties of this position to an already resource-strapped staff at Advocacy. The Office of Advocacy’s efforts at monitoring federal agency compliance with the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) resulted in changes to 10 specific rules that led to $773 million in quantifiable small-business regulatory compliance cost savings in FY2019 alone.
“While not every small business may be aware of the Office of Advocacy, every small business across the country has benefited deeply from Advocacy’s efforts,” stated NSBA President and CEO Todd McCracken. “The House Small Business Committee ought to serve as an example to all lawmakers of why bipartisanship is not only important, but doable.”
NSBA looks forward to working the both the House and Senate Small Business Committees on this critical issue and thanks Chair Williams and Ranking Member Velazquez for their bipartisan leadership.