II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1153 

To require assessment of the impact on small business concerns of rules 

relating to internal controls, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 18, 2007 

Ms. SNOWE (for herself and Mr. COLEMAN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To require assessment of the impact on small business concerns of rules relating to internal controls, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Small Business Regu5 latory Review Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) a vibrant and growing small business sector 

9 is critical to creating jobs in a dynamic economy; 


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1 (2) uniform Federal regulatory and reporting 

2 requirements in many instances have imposed on 

3 small business concerns and other small entities un4 necessary and disproportionately burdensome de5 mands, including legal, accounting, and consulting 

6 costs; 

7 (3) since 1980, under chapter 6 of title 5, 

8 United States Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Regu9 latory Flexibility Act’’), Federal agencies have been 

10 required to recognize and take account of the dif11 ferences in the scale and resources of regulated enti12 ties, but have failed to do so; 

13 (4) a recent report prepared for the Office of 

14 Advocacy of the Small Business Administration 

15 found that in 2004, the per-employee cost of Federal 

16 regulations for firms with fewer than 20 employees 

17 was $7,647, 44.8 percent more than the $5,282 per18 employee cost faced by businesses with 500 or more 

19 workers; 

20 (5) Federal agencies have failed to analyze and 

21 uncover less costly alternative regulatory approaches, 

22 despite the fact that the Regulatory Flexibility Act 

23 requires them to do so; and 


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1 (6) the regulatory playing field for small busi2 ness concerns should be leveled, making it easier for 

3 them to comply with complex regulations. 

4 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this Act— 

6 (1) the term ‘‘Board’’ means the Public Com7 pany Accounting Oversight Board established under 

8 section 101 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (15 

9 U.S.C. 7211); 

10 (2) the term ‘‘Commission’’ means the Securi11 ties and Exchange Commission; and 

12 (3) the term ‘‘small business concern’’ has the 

13 same meaning as in section 3 of the Small Business 

14 Act (15 U.S.C. 632). 

15 SEC. 4. REGULATORY FLEXIBILITY ANALYSIS REQUIRED. 

16 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, before 

17 the Commission approves any final rule of the Board in 

18 accordance with section 107(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act 

19 of 2002 (15 U.S.C. 7217(b)), the Commission shall con20 duct and complete an analysis of such rule in accordance 

21 with section 604 of title 5, United States Code. 

22 SEC. 5. SMALL BUSINESS COMPLIANCE GUIDE REQUIRED. 

23 The Commission shall publish the small business 

24 compliance guide, as required by section 212 of the Small 

25 Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 


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1 (5 U.S.C. 601 note) on the same date as the date of publi2 cation of the final rule (or as soon as possible after that 

3 date) issued to carry out section 404 of the Sarbanes4 Oxley Act of 2002 (15 U.S.C. 7262). 

5 SEC. 6. STUDY AND REPORT ON EFFECTS ON SMALL BUSI6 NESS CONCERNS. 

7 (a) ASSESSMENT OF EFFECTS ON SMALL BUSI8 NESS.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Two years after the date on 

10 which final rules are published by the Board to carry 

11 out section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 

12 (15 U.S.C. 7262), the Comptroller General of the 

13 United States shall conduct an assessment of the 

14 impact on small business concerns of such rules and 

15 prepare a report on such assessment. 

16 (2) CONTENT.—The assessment and report re17 quired by this section shall— 

18 (A) quantify how both the regulatory re19 quirements of the Commission and the auditing 

20 requirements of the Board are affecting small 

21 business concerns; 

22 (B) be modeled on the investigation of the 

23 Advisory Committee on Smaller Public Compa24 nies of the Commission into the regulatory bur25 dens posed by the rules of the Commission; 


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1 (C) include an assessment of the costs and 

2 time commitments imposed on small business 

3 concerns by the requirements of the Commis4 sion and the Board, and an estimate of whether 

5 or not such costs of compliance are expected to 

6 decrease or increase in the future; 

7 (D) document how the Commission and 

8 the Board worked together, since issuing the 

9 final compliance guide described in section 5, to 

10 help small business concerns comply with their 

11 regulatory requirements; and 

12 (E) include recommendations and regu13 latory alternatives on how to simplify or im14 prove the process of compliance with Commis15 sion and Board requirements for small business 

16 concerns. 

17 (b) AVAILABILITY OF REPORT.—Upon completion of 

18 the report required by this section, such report shall be— 

19 (1) submitted to the Committee on Small Busi20 ness and Entrepreneurship of the Senate, the Com21 mittee on Small Business of the House of Rep22 resentatives, and the Small Business Administration; 

23 and 

24 (2) made available to the public. 

Æ 


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