The Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration saved American small businesses $10.7 billion in foregone regulatory costs in fiscal year 2008, by helping federal agencies comply with the Regulatory Flexibility Act. The RFA requires agencies to analyze the economic impact of proposed regulations on small entities and consider less burdensome alternatives that still reach the agencies’ regulatory goals.

The Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration saved American small businesses $10.7 billion in foregone regulatory costs in fiscal year 2008, by helping federal agencies comply with the Regulatory Flexibility Act. The RFA requires agencies to analyze the economic impact of proposed regulations on small entities and consider less burdensome alternatives that still reach the agencies’ regulatory goals.

The Office of Advocacy’s Small Business Profiles for the States and Territories supply data on small businesses in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The publication also provides national-level data and limited data on the U.S. territories. The usefulness of the publication is the great detail it provides about small businesses at the state level. This new edition improves on previous years by providing more information and an easier-to-use format.

The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (Councils) have agreed to delay the implementation of a final rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to require certain contractors and subcontractors to use the E-Verify system administered by the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, as the means of verifying that certain of their employees are eligible to work in the United States. The Effective Date was January 15, 2009. The federal government Jan. 9 agreed to postpone implementation of an executive order and a related federal procurement law that require federal contractors to use E-Verify, after a coalition of business groups led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce filed a lawsuit challenging the rule. The federal government agreed to delay implementation of the rule until Feb. 20.

On January 16, 2009, the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Office of Advocacy (Advocacy) submitted comments to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) on OSHA’s Proposed Cranes and Derricks in Construction Rule.

Small business owners and their representatives have nominated 38 existing regulatory requirements as candidates for review and reform. The nominations came in response to the second year of the Office of Advocacy’s long-term Regulatory Review and Reform (r3) initiative.

In 2008, the Office of Advocacy published 28 reports relevant to small businesses in the American economy. While some contain exclusive data, others address issues of concern to small businesses. The new Office of Economic Research catalog lists all of these publications.

U.S. Census Bureau employment size of firm data (partially funded by the Office of Advocacy) for 2006 has been updated. The data list the number of firms, establishments, employment and payroll by firm size for states and Metropolitan Areas by industry. The number of employer firms topped 6 million for the first time in 2006, reaching 6.02 million. Small firms (fewer than 500 employees) represent the bulk of the private sector firms, 99.7 percent and 50 percent of the employment

The Department of the Treasury (Treasury) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued proposed regulations for new Internal Revenue Code (Code) subsection 3402(t). This subsection, created by the Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act of 2005, requires that payments to contractors by governmental entities for goods or services after December 31, 2010, are subject to three percent income tax withholding. Public comment on this proposed rule should be received by Treasury and the IRS on or before March 5, 2009.

Pankaj Patel and Rodney D’Souza, doctoral students at the University of Louisville, were presented with an Office of Advocacy best paper award at the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE) annual meeting in Anaheim, California, for their paper, "Leveraging Entrepreneurial Orientation to Enhance SME Export Performance."

The December-January 2009 edition of The Small Business Advocate looks ahead to the new Congress and highlights employment law changes, as well as new research on immigrant entrepreneurs and small business innovation.

On December 17, 2008, the Office of Advocacy (Advocacy) filed comments with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) asking that the agency do a better job analyzing the economic impacts of the FY 2009 Payment for Certain Durable Medical Equipment final rule on small oxygen suppliers.

On December 8, 2008, the U.S. Small Business Administration's (SBA’s) Office of Advocacy (Advocacy) submitted comments to United States Trade Representative on their November 6, 2008, notice entitled "Review of Action Taken in Connection with WTO Dispute Settlement Proceedings on the European Communities’ Measures Concerning Meat and Meat Products."

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing effluent limitations guidelines (ELGs) and new source performance standards (NSPS) to control the discharge of pollutants from construction sites, that would require construction sites to implement a range of erosion and sediment control measures to control pollutants in stormwater discharges. Construction sites disturbing ten or more acres at a time would also be required to install sediment basins to treat their stormwater discharges; stormwater discharges from construction sites 30 acres or larger, located in areas of the country with high rainfall intensity and soils with a high clay content, would be required to meet a numeric limit on the allowable level of sediment in the water. The proposed rule is intended to work in concert with existing state and local programs, adding a technology-based "floor" that establishes minimum requirements that would apply nationally. The comment deadline is February 26, 2009.

On December 1, 2008, the U.S. Small Business Administration's (SBA’s) Office of Advocacy (Advocacy) submitted comments to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Department of the Treasury on their Proposed Uniform Rules of Origin for Imported Merchandise Rule.

On November 14, 2008, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a proposed roadmap for the potential use of financial statements prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The proposed roadmap sets forth several milestones that, if achieved, could lead to the required use of the IFRS by US issuers in 2014 if the SEC believes it in the public interest. IFRS does not allow for the use of the last-in, first-out ("LIFO") method of accounting for inventory. Public comment on the SEC's proposed roadmap should be received by the SEC on or before February 19, 2009.

Small businesses are the innovators of the American economy as they obtain many more patents per employee than larger firms, according to a study, An Analysis of Small Business Patents by Industry and Firm Size, released today by the Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Immigrant-owned businesses generate approximately 11.6 percent of all business income in the United States. Moreover, immigrants own 11.2 percent of businesses with $100,000 or more in sales and 10.8 percent of all businesses with employees. These figures are contained in a report, Estimating the Contribution of Immigrant Business Owners to the U.S. Economy, released by the Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration.