Prove It Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1339 To require greater transparency for Federal regulatory decisions that impact small businesses. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 7, 2019 Ms. ERNST (for herself and Ms. SINEMA) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs A BILL To require greater transparency for Federal regulatory decisions that impact small businesses. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Prove It Act of 2019’’. 4 SEC. 2. REVIEW PROCEDURES RELATED TO THE CERTIFI- 5 CATION. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 605(b) of title 5, United 7 States Code, is amended— 8 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘Sections 603’’; 9 (2) in paragraph (1), as so designated— 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 May 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 \\ALPHA3\E\BILLS\S1339.IS S1339 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 1339 IS (A) by striking ‘‘the preceding sentence’’ 1 and inserting ‘‘this subsection’’; and 2 (B) by striking ‘‘statement to the Chief 3 Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business 4 Administration’’ and inserting ‘‘statement pro- 5 viding the factual basis to the Chief Counsel for 6 Advocacy of the Small Business Administration 7 (in this subsection referred to as the ‘Chief 8 Counsel’)’’; and 9 (3) by adding at the end the following: 10 ‘‘(2)(A) If the Chief Counsel disagrees with a certifi- 11 cation and statement providing the factual basis for the 12 certification published in the Federal Register under para- 13 graph (1) with respect to a proposed rule, the Chief Coun- 14 sel may, not later than 14 days after the date on which 15 the statement and factual basis were published in the Fed- 16 eral Register, submit to the head of the Federal agency 17 proposing the rule a letter (in this subsection referred to 18 as an ‘advisement letter’) advising the head of the Federal 19 agency to— 20 ‘‘(i) review the certification and the detailed 21 statement submitted by the Chief Counsel under 22 subparagraph (B); and 23 ‘‘(ii) reconsider the certification. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 May 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 \\ALPHA3\E\BILLS\S1339.IS S1339 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 1339 IS ‘‘(B) An advisement letter submitted by the Chief 1 Counsel under subparagraph (A) shall— 2 ‘‘(i) include a detailed statement of why the 3 Chief Counsel disagreed with the certification or the 4 statement providing the factual basis received under 5 paragraph (1); and 6 ‘‘(ii) be published on the website of the Office 7 of Advocacy of the Small Business Administration. 8 ‘‘(C) Not later than 7 days after the date on which 9 the head of a Federal agency receives an advisement letter 10 under subparagraph (A) with respect to a proposed rule, 11 the head of the Federal agency shall— 12 ‘‘(i) publish in the Federal Register and on the 13 website of the Federal agency an acknowledgment of 14 receipt of the advisement letter; 15 ‘‘(ii) allow the public comment period for the 16 rule to remain open for a period of not less than 30 17 days; and 18 ‘‘(iii) if, during the 30-day period described in 19 clause (ii), the head of the Federal agency deter- 20 mines that the certification and statement providing 21 the factual basis should be modified, shorten or 22 eliminate the 30-day period. 23 ‘‘(D)(i) Not later than 30 days after the date on 24 which the Chief Counsel submits to the head of a Federal 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 May 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 \\ALPHA3\E\BILLS\S1339.IS S1339 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 1339 IS agency an advisement letter under subparagraph (A), the 1 Federal agency shall submit to the Chief Counsel and pub- 2 lish in the Federal Register and on the website of the Fed- 3 eral agency the results of the review and reconsideration. 4 ‘‘(ii) If, after conducting the review and reconsider- 5 ation under subparagraph (A), the head of the Federal 6 agency determines— 7 ‘‘(I) that there was not a sufficient factual basis 8 to support the certification, the Federal agency shall 9 perform and publish in the Federal Register an ini- 10 tial regulatory flexibility analysis under section 603, 11 with an opportunity for public comment, before pro- 12 mulgating the final rule; 13 ‘‘(II) that the certification was appropriate but 14 the factual basis was inadequate to support the cer- 15 tification, the Federal agency shall revise the factual 16 basis to support the certification; or 17 ‘‘(III) that the certification was appropriate and 18 the factual basis was adequate to support the certifi- 19 cation, the Federal agency may continue with the 20 rule making.’’. 21 SEC. 3. JUDICIAL REVIEW. 22 Section 611(a) of title 5, United States Code, is 23 amended— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 May 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 \\ALPHA3\E\BILLS\S1339.IS S1339 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 1339 IS (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘605(b)’’ and 1 inserting ‘‘605(b)(1)’’; and 2 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘605(b)’’ and 3 inserting ‘‘605(b)(1)’’. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 May 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 \\ALPHA3\E\BILLS\S1339.IS S1339 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS