WASHINGTON – Today, Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and Workforce Protections Subcommittee Chairman Kevin Kiley (R-CA) sent a letterto Department of Labor Acting Secretary Julie Su slamming the agency for failing to comply with rulemaking procedures under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA). The RFA requires the DOL to consider the impacts of its regulations on small businesses.
The letter was prompted by a July 18 Workforce Protections Subcommittee hearing examining the Wage and Hour Division's (WHD) failure to comply with the RFA.
In the letter, Foxx and Kiley write: “During a recent hearing held by the Committee’s Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, we heard testimony that DOL has failed to comply with important rulemaking procedures. The hearing examined how the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Office of Advocacy found significant noncompliance with the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) by the Wage and Hour Division (WHD). As part of our oversight, the Committee requests information relating to the concerns raised by the Office of Advocacy to ensure DOL is taking its RFA requirements seriously.”
Foxx and Kiley continue: “The National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) Small Business Legal Center noted in a review of the Office of Advocacy’s comment letters that there were 28 instances during the 117th Congress where agencies across the federal government failed to follow the RFA. DOL was responsible for nearly 18 percent of these failures.”
Foxx and Kiley conclude: “By failing to analyze the effects on small businesses adequately, DOL is undermining confidence in its rulemakings and engaging in rule by executive fiat. The lapses identified by the Office of Advocacy demonstrate DOL’s calculated approach to fulfilling its obligations under the RFA to fit regulatory and informational requirements to the size and scope of businesses.”
