HR4305-119

What This Bill Does

The DUMP Red Tape Act amends Public Law 94-305 to create a Red Tape Hotline inside the Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy. Within 180 days, the Chief Counsel for Advocacy must establish, operate, and maintain the hotline to receive notifications from small entities about the burden of complying with an agency rule, guidance document, policy statement, or other agency activity. The Chief Counsel must provide an email address, submission form, phone number, or other intake method, and must create an easily accessible website explaining those options.

The bill also turns the hotline into an annual oversight report. Within one year after enactment and annually thereafter, the Chief Counsel must report to the SBA Administrator and Congress. The report must identify the rules, guidance, policy statements, and other agency activities that generate the most notifications; summarize who submitted complaints by small entity type, organization type, geography, and industry category; identify the responsible agency and the specific action complained about; recommend burden reductions to each agency; and summarize what the Chief Counsel did in response, including comments or analysis submitted by the Office of Advocacy.

Who Benefits and How

Small businesses, small nonprofits, small governmental jurisdictions, industry associations representing small entities, and rural small employers benefit because they receive a dedicated channel to document regulatory burdens and push those complaints into annual reports to Congress. The SBA Office of Advocacy benefits from a structured intake source for identifying burdensome rules and guidance. Congressional small business committees benefit from recurring information about which agencies and sectors generate the most complaints.

Who Bears the Burden and How

The SBA Chief Counsel for Advocacy, SBA Office of Advocacy staff, SBA website administrators, federal regulatory agencies, agency regulatory-policy offices, and agencies whose rules or guidance generate hotline complaints must comply with new intake, website, report, recommendation, and response scrutiny. Agencies may face public recommendations to reduce burdens on small entities and additional comments or analysis from the Chief Counsel.

Key Provisions

• Requires the SBA Chief Counsel for Advocacy to establish, operate, and maintain the Red Tape Hotline within 180 days.
• Requires accessible intake methods such as email, web forms, phone numbers, or other submission channels.
• Requires an easily accessible website explaining how small entities can submit notifications.
• Requires annual reports to the SBA Administrator and Congress on the rules, guidance, policy statements, and agency activities most frequently reported.
• Requires reports to identify affected sectors, submitter type, geography, industry category, responsible agencies, burden-reduction recommendations, and Chief Counsel actions.