Companies authorized to dodge excessive federal regulations under GOP bill

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Ernst unveils bill to give small businesses power to fight back against government regulation

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, unveiled a bill Wednesday that she says will give small businesses a voice in the government's regulatory processes. She also weighed in on the southern border and Congress' crackdown on social media.

A new bill pushed by Senate GOP leadership aims to broaden Republicans’ deregulatory efforts by enabling small businesses to sidestep certain federal policies that hamper their operations.

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, the top Republican on the Small Business Committee and chair of the Senate Republican Policy Committee, introduced the Prove It Act of 2023 on Wednesday. She told Fox News Digital that she intends to bring it up with her Small Business counterpart, committee Chair Ben Cardin, D-Md.

"I will actually be sitting down with Ben Cardin very soon, and we're going to talk about a number of pieces that we intend to look out for this upcoming Congress," Ernst said to reporters gathered in her office. "And I'm hoping this will be one of them."

The bill would empower small businesses to flag federal policies for review that aren't set by Congress in federal law. The burden would then lie on the relevant agency to prove the policy complies with existing federal law – if it fails to do so, the business in question would be exempt from following the rule.

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Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, is pushing a new bill aimed at helping small companies avoid onerous regulations that Republicans say are killing jobs. (Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images)

"Right now, a lot of federal agencies will just put rules out that are very harmful for our small businesses. So, this would allow them to push back against that," Ernst said.

As an example, she named President Joe Biden’s Waters of the U.S. legislation (WOTUS), which expands what waters and wetlands fall under the government’s purview of the Clean Water Act. Biden vetoed Congress’ attempted repeal of his WOTUS rule, and the Republican-led House of Representatives fell short of enough votes to override the veto.

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Ernst said her bill would help small businesses fight against government regulations that are not in line with existing law. (Richard Baker / In Pictures via Getty Images / File)

"This negatively impacted so many different businesses across the United States. And yet, the small business owners did not have an opportunity to push back against that rule and demonstrate how it would negatively affect their bottom line as small business owners," Ernst said.

"Oftentimes, when we see federal regulation pushed out, they don't include those small businesses as stakeholders in discussions. They don't get their feedback. And so we are now giving them that voice."

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Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., asks a question during the Senate Finance Committee hearing on April 19, 2023, on Capitol Hill. (AP Photo / Mariam Zuhaib)

She argued that small businesses need the protections specifically, rather than larger corporations that have more resources to handle added government guardrails.

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"Sometimes it's OK for corporations, large entities, to absorb the cost of additional regulation. They have plenty of attorneys or people working on administrative staff that can write all the reports, go to the federal government," Ernst said. "Small businesses, if you're a mom-and-pop shop, one or two people working in a business, you probably don't have attorneys at your beck and call. So, this will make a substantial difference."