Mike Levin: “One of the proposals put forward in S. 942 would establish an ombudsman position in the Small Business Administration.…”

“One of the proposals put forward in S. 942 would establish an ombudsman position in the Small Business Administration. The proposal of the Senator from Missouri would provide a way to gather and publicize information about how agencies across the board treat small businesses in the regulatory enforcement process. I have concerns about the language the bill uses to describe the duties and functions of the ombudsman. Specifically, I would like to ask the Senator from Missouri about title II, section 30(b)(2) (A) and (C). In an earlier version of the bill, these sections, which outline the duties of the ombudsman, stated that the ombudsman shall work with each agency with regulatory authority over small businesses to ensure that small business concerns that receive or are subject to an audit, on-site inspection, compliance assistance effort, or other enforcement related communication or contact by agency personnel are provided with a means to comment on and rate the performance of such personnel, and, based on substantiated comments received from small business concerns and the Boards, annually report to Congress and affected agencies concerning the enforcement activities of agency personnel including a rating of the responsiveness to small business of the various regional and program offices and personnel of each agency.”