Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.
The bill directs the Chief Counsel for Advocacy at the Small Business Administration to establish and maintain a “Red Tape Hotline” for small entities to notify the office about burdensome agency rules, guidance, policy statements, or other agency activities.
The Chief Counsel must create accessible submission methods (email, form, phone, etc.) and a website within 180 days of enactment.
The office must produce an initial report one year after enactment and annual reports thereafter listing frequently reported items, summaries of notifications (including industry and geography), identifying issuing agencies and specific items, recommending burden-reduction actions for agencies, and summarizing actions taken by the Chief Counsel.
Content is narrow, technocratic, and low-cost, making the bill broadly acceptable on its merits. It creates no substantive regulatory changes or contentious mandates and mainly formalizes an advocacy/complaint channel and reporting. Those features increase the chance of enactment relative to sweeping or costly legislation. The main limiting factors are procedural hurdles in the Senate, potential questions about funding or duplication of existing functions, and competing legislative priorities.
Relative to its intended legislative type, this bill establishes a clear administrative mandate (a Red Tape Hotline) with defined responsible official, deadline, and detailed reporting requirements, but it omits essential operational and resourcing details that are reasonably expected for effective execution.
Progressives emphasize risks that the hotline will be used to weaken public-protection regulations; conservatives emphasize its utility for deregulation and small-business relief.
Progressives emphasize risks that the hotline will be used to weaken public-protection regulations; conservatives emphasize its utility for deregulation and small-business relief.
A mainstream liberal would view this bill with caution.
They would acknowledge the value of hearing from small businesses about compliance challenges, but be concerned that a hotline run by the SBA’s Chief Counsel for Advocacy—an office historically focused on minimizing regulatory burden—could be used to systematically pressure agencies to weaken rules that protect workers, consumers, public health, or the environment.
They would look for safeguards ensuring that reports are contextualized with information about the public benefits of the challenged rules and that recommendations do not automatically trigger rollbacks.
A mainstream centrist would generally be favorable to creating an accessible feedback mechanism for small businesses while seeking pragmatic safeguards.
They would appreciate the potential for improved, evidence-based regulatory targeting and lower compliance costs, but want clarity on resourcing, methodological rigor, and how recommendations will be weighed against statutory public protections.
The centrist would likely support the bill as a modest administrative improvement if accompanied by defined standards, transparency, and oversight to prevent partisan or one-sided misuse.
A mainstream conservative would likely view this bill favorably as a practical tool to reduce regulatory burdens on small businesses.
They would see the hotline as empowering entrepreneurs to report costly, unnecessary, or misapplied rules and as a way to generate evidence to press agencies to reform or rescind burdensome regulations.
Conservative supporters would, however, prefer stronger, faster remedies than advisory reports and may push for the Chief Counsel’s recommendations to carry greater weight or for mandatory agency responses.
Reached or meaningfully advanced
Reached or meaningfully advanced
Still ahead
Still ahead
Still ahead
Content is narrow, technocratic, and low-cost, making the bill broadly acceptable on its merits. It creates no substantive regulatory changes or contentious mandates and mainly formalizes an advocacy/complaint channel and reporting. Those features increase the chance of enactment relative to sweeping or costly legislation. The main limiting factors are procedural hurdles in the Senate, potential questions about funding or duplication of existing functions, and competing legislative priorities.
On Passage
Progressives emphasize risks that the hotline will be used to weaken public-protection regulations; conservatives emphasize its utility for…
Content is narrow, technocratic, and low-cost, making the bill broadly acceptable on its merits. It creates no substantive regulatory chang…
Relative to its intended legislative type, this bill establishes a clear administrative mandate (a Red Tape Hotline) with defined responsible official, deadline, and detailed reporting requirements, but it omits essenti…
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