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CIVIC HERALD
HR 1163 · 119th Congress · HouseOther

Prove It Act

In plain language: This bill requires federal agencies to calculate indirect costs to small businesses—such as expenses passed down through suppliers or customers—before issuing new regulations. It gives small business owners and trade groups the right to challenge agency claims that a proposed rule will have little economic impact, triggering an independent review by the Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy. If an agency refuses to participate in this review process or neglects to re-evaluate its existing regulations every ten years, those rules cannot be enforced against small businesses. Agencies must also publish all compliance guidance online and allow the public to submit feedback.

Provisional: our plain-language summary, pending review.

Provisionalunreviewed: impact, issue tags, provisions, stakeholders, summary
People affected—The text applies broadly to all federal agencies and small entities subject to federal rulemaking, but does not state a quantifiable count of individuals or entities affected.
Fiscal magnitude—CBO cost estimate published (H.R. 1163, Prove it Act, 2025-08-13); dollar figure pending review extraction — see receipt
Reach58provisional · pending reviewrigor: heuristic llm
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Issues

What this bill touches.

Ethics & oversight+50Regulation (cross-sector)−55

The sign shows the bill's direction on each issue (+ toward, − away); the number is its magnitude. Color never encodes good or bad, and never party.

Who it affects

Who it helps · who it burdens.

Who it helps

  • Small entities and small business organizationsGains the right to petition the SBA Chief Counsel for Advocacy to challenge agency certifications that a proposed rule will not significantly affect small entities, receive review meetings, gain potential exemptions from final rules if an agency fails to participate, and submit public comments on agency guidance documents (Sec. 2(a)(3), Sec. 3). Additionally, agencies must consider indirect costs on small businesses during rulemaking and 10-year periodic reviews (Sec. 2(a)(1), Sec. 4(a)(1)).provisional

Who it burdens

  • Federal rulemaking agenciesSubject to new procedural duties, including analyzing indirect costs to small entities during proposed rulemaking and 10-year reviews, certifying small-entity impacts within 10 days, participating in SBA review meetings, performing full regulatory flexibility analyses if SBA overturns a certification, publishing guidance documents online for public comment, and facing the lapse of rules if required 10-year reviews are not conducted on time (Sec. 2, Sec. 3, Sec. 4).provisional
  • Small Business Administration Office of AdvocacyRequired to establish petition procedures, issue determinations on petitions within 10 days, conduct full reviews and review meetings with agencies and petitioners, publish findings within 30 days, and notify agencies when rules cease to be effective due to missed 10-year reviews, with no additional funds authorized (Sec. 2(a)(3), Sec. 4(a)(2), Sec. 5).provisional

Dollar-level funding (FEC sector totals) is coming in a later phase.

What it does

The provisions, in plain language.

  1. Requires federal agencies to include reasonably foreseeable indirect costs to small businesses and other small entities in their initial regulatory flexibility analyses for proposed rules.

    Sec. 2(a)(1)provisional

  2. Allows small entities and small business organizations to petition the Small Business Administration Chief Counsel for Advocacy to review an agency's certification that a proposed rule will not significantly impact small entities.

    Sec. 2(a)(3)provisional

  3. Requires an agency to perform full regulatory flexibility analyses if the Chief Counsel for Advocacy determines that a proposed rule will have a significant economic impact on small entities.

    Sec. 2(a)(3)provisional

  4. Exempts small entities from complying with a final rule if the issuing agency fails to attend the required review meeting or assist the Chief Counsel for Advocacy's review.

    Sec. 2(a)(3)provisional

  5. Requires agencies to publish all guidance documents and interpretation updates for rules affecting small entities online and accept public comments on them.

    Sec. 3provisional

  6. Causes existing and future agency rules to lose legal effect if the agency fails to complete a required 10-year review, requiring public notice and completion of a review within 180 days to reinstate the rule.

    Sec. 4(a)(2)provisional

How your members of Congress line up

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Timeline

How it moved.

  1. May 4, 2026Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 552.
  2. May 4, 2026Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Judiciary. H. Rept. 119-108, Part II.
  3. May 4, 2026Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Judiciary. H. Rept. 119-108, Part II.
  4. May 21, 2025Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute by the Yeas and Nays: 14 - 12.
  5. May 21, 2025Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Small Business. H. Rept. 119-108, Part I.
  6. May 21, 2025Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Small Business. H. Rept. 119-108, Part I.
  7. Apr 30, 2025Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 15 - 11.
  8. Feb 10, 2025Introduced in House
  9. Feb 10, 2025Introduced in House

The original text

Read it for yourself.

Read the original text →

Sources & provenance

Congress.govrefreshed 9 days ago

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