How to account for small business interests in President Biden’s Modernizing Regulatory Review Initiative

On his first day in office, President Biden issued a memorandum titled “Modernizing Regulatory Review,” which made it clear that his administration would be charting a new course in regulatory policymaking. Gone was the Trump administration’s focus on the overall numbers or costs of rules. In its place, President Biden hinted that his administration would encourage agencies to adopt new rules in areas in which the existing ones may be insufficient, even as he sought to roll back rules relating to immigration, architectural requirements, and other matters. And he urged agencies to focus closely on how regulatory policy might hurt certain vulnerable groups and to ensure those groups have a say in how agency rules are made.

As the administration’s initiative is taking shape, a major group that can often suffer harm as a result of regulatory initiatives is the small business community. Conservatives have, on the whole, been quite attentive…

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