Meuser Reintroduces Legislation to Reduce Burdensome Regulations for Small Businesses

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Dan Meuser (PA-09) reintroduced the Regulatory Review Improvement Act, legislation aimed at strengthening oversight of federal regulations by requiring agencies to regularly review, update, or eliminate rules that impose excessive burdens on America’s small businesses.

Current law requires federal agencies to review existing regulations every ten years; however, agencies are currently permitted to postpone those reviews for an additional five years without providing an explanation. The Regulatory Review Improvement Act reforms this process by limiting review delays to no more than one year and requiring agencies to provide a clear justification for any extension.

The bill also directs agencies to conduct comprehensive evaluations of existing regulations, including both qualitative and quantitative assessments. These reviews would examine the actual costs imposed, compliance burdens, and paperwork hours that have accumulated since a rule took effect. Agencies would also be required to determine whether regulations continue to serve their intended purpose or should be modified or eliminated.

Under the Biden Administration, new federal regulations imposed an estimated $1.8 trillion in costs and added more than 355 million hours of annual paperwork. Small businesses are disproportionately burdened by growing compliance demands, often without the resources to comply. The Regulatory Review Improvement Act addresses this imbalance by requiring agencies to regularly reassess and justify the regulations they impose. 

“Federal agencies should not be implementing new regulations without fully considering how they affect Main Street,” said Congressman Meuser. “Small business owners already have enough on their plate. Unnecessary and costly regulations only make their jobs harder. When rules sit on the books for years without a real review, costs grow, paperwork piles up, and small businesses get buried in red tape. That’s why I’m pleased to reintroduce The Regulatory Review Improvement Act. This bill brings common sense back to the regulatory process by requiring agencies to take a hard look at the real-world impact of their rules and justify whether they should stay in place.” 

The full text of the legislation is available here.