WASHINGTON – Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., today praised passage of the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act, a bill that will help small business owners who must satisfy federal paperwork requirements.
“America’s small businesses are a critical part of the nation’s economy and a key driver of new job growth,” Lieberman said. “Yet small businesses face particular challenges in complying with government information-collection requirements. I am confident that the legislation passed today will help small businesses meet these challenges with less cost in time and money, and I urge President Bush to sign it into law expeditiously.”
Last November, the Governmental Affairs Committee reported out S.1271, the Senate companion bill to H.R. 327. The Senate subsequently passed the bill by unanimous consent on December 17, 2001. Lieberman, working with other Senate and House sponsors, was instrumental in resolving differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill and the Senate passed the consensus legislation on May 22, 2002. This same bill was passed by the House of Representatives today.
“As a result of negotiation and determination, we have passed a truly bipartisan, bicameral bill whose benefits will be felt by the small businesses that are the backbone of our country,” Lieberman said.
H.R.327 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.