Lifetime Citizen Portal Access — AI Briefings, Alerts & Unlimited Follows
House Judiciary Committee advances Prove It Act to give SBA new review role for small‑business regulatory analysis
Loading...
Summary
The committee adopted an amendment and voted 14–12 to report H.R.1163, the Prove It Act of 2025, to the House, a bill that would allow the Small Business Administration to investigate whether agencies complied with the Regulatory Flexibility Act and to seek suspension of rules not found to comply.
The House Judiciary Committee on Thursday voted 14–12 to report H.R.1163, the Prove It Act of 2025, after adopting an amendment in the nature of a substitute and ordering the bill favorably reported to the full House.
The bill would allow small businesses to petition the Small Business Administration (SBA) to investigate whether federal agencies complied with the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) when issuing rules and would create a mechanism for agencies to show they completed the RFA analysis. Representative David Klein, the bill’s sponsor, said the measure is designed to ensure "agencies comply with existing law and better account for how the regulations may affect small businesses." He argued small-business owners often lack resources to assess regulatory impacts and that the bill would improve regulatory design.
Ranking Member Representative Jamie Raskin opposed the measure in committee, saying it could give the SBA’s chief counsel "a kind of veto power over every rule proposed by every agency in the federal government," and that routing challenges to a single, chronically underfunded office could hamper rules that protect public health and safety. Raskin also raised concern that placing this review in the SBA could fragment the regulatory process.
During debate Representative Nadler called the bill an effort to benefit large corporations at the expense of public safeguards, saying the proposal "represents the latest effort by Republicans to dismantle the regulatory process," and warned it could leave safety rules "hanging in limbo." Klein responded that the bill would not authorize the SBA to review the substantive policy of regulations but only to determine whether agencies complied with the RFA and to require agencies to "show their work."
Committee members adopted an amendment in the nature of a substitute that made technical changes (the amendment was introduced and immediately adopted). After the roll call the clerk reported 14 ayes and 12 nos and the committee ordered the bill to be reported favorably; members have two days to submit views. The committee also authorized staff to make technical and conforming changes before the report is filed.
The text under consideration does not include a statute of limitations for challenges and committee members said the parties would continue negotiations about that gap as the bill moves forward. Several members pressed for additional clarity on how petitions would be processed and on the capacity of the SBA to handle potentially large numbers of petitions.
Next steps: The committee ordered the bill favorably reported to the House; it will be placed on the House calendar and could be considered by the full House or be subject to further amendment in other committees.
Votes at a glance: H.R.1163, Prove It Act of 2025 — amendment in the nature of a substitute adopted; committee report ordered favorably to the House, 14–12.
