HEARD Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2142 To allow remote participation on review panels under the Regulatory Flexibility Act, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 17, 2019 Ms. COLLINS (for herself and Mrs. SHAHEEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Secu- rity and Governmental Affairs A BILL To allow remote participation on review panels under the Regulatory Flexibility Act, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘Helping Entrepreneurs 4 Affects Regulatory Decisions Act of 2019’’ or the 5 ‘‘HEARD Act of 2019’’. 6 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE REGULATORY FLEXIBILITY 7 ACT. 8 Section 609(b) of title 5, United States Code, is 9 amended— 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Jul 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2142.IS S2142 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2142 IS (1) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘, through an 1 in-person meeting or by electronic participation,’’ 2 after ‘‘panel’’; 3 (2) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 4 end; 5 (3) in paragraph (6), by striking the period at 6 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 7 (4) by adding at the end the following: 8 ‘‘(7) a covered agency shall take reasonable 9 steps to ensure that representatives of small entities 10 may participate electronically in a review panel con- 11 vened under this subsection.’’. 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Jul 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2142.IS S2142 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS