Prove It Act

• S. 1411  
  • Sponsors: Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA)
  • Committees Of Jurisdiction: Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs; Senate Small
  • Business and Entrepreneurship
• H.R. 7198  
  • Sponsor: Rep. Brad Finstad (R-MN)
  • Original Co-sponsors: Rep. Yadira Caraveo (D-CO) and Rep. Nathaniel Moran (R-TX)
  • Committees Of Jurisdiction: House Judiciary and House Small Business

When federal agencies introduce new regulations, however well intentioned, they may be overly burdensome, particularly for small businesses. Small business owners often don’t have a strong voice in the regulatory process and there is no effective way for them to tell regulators about the direct and indirect costs proposed regulations would have on their business.

The bipartisan Prove It Act (S. 1411/H.R. 7198) would:

• Make it easier for small businesses to raise concerns when regulators do not consider both the direct and indirect costs their regulations place on them.
• Enable small businesses to ask the Small Business Administration to review agencies’ work and make the government prove they are fully compliant with already existing laws. If regulators fail to comply with this review process, then small businesses will be exempt from the agency’s regulations altogether.
• Ensure small businesses can easily access preexisting guidance documents online and create a way for them to directly ask questions of their regulators.

Estate Tax Legislation

Permanently Repeal the Estate Tax Act (H.R. 338)  

• Sponsor: Rep. Robert Latta (R-OH)
• Original Co-sponsors: Reps. Eric Crawford (R-AR), Reps. Mary Miller (R-IL), Christopher Smith (R-NJ), Bill Johnson (R-OH), Ann Wagner (R-MO), Wesley Hunt (R-TX), Tom Cole (R-OK)
• Committee Of Jurisdiction: House Ways and Means

Death Tax Repeal Act

• S. 1108  
  • Sponsor: Sen. John Thune (R-SD)
  • Committee of Jurisdiction: Senate Finance and Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship
• H.R. 7035  
  • Sponsor: Rep. Randy Feenstra (R-IA)
  • Original Co-sponsors: Reps. Sanford Bishop (D-GA), Claudia Tenney (R-NY), Austin Scott (R-GA), Ann Wagner (R-MO), Dan Bishop (R-NC), Scott Perry (R-PA), Tracey Mann (R-KS), Sam Graves (R-MO), Kat Cammack (R-FL), Mike Bost (R-IL), David Kustoff (R-TN), Thomas Tiffany (R-WI), Lance Gooden (R-TX), Brad Finstad (R-MN), John Moolenaar (R-MI), Michael Guest (R-MS), Blake Moore (R-UT), Ashley Hinson (R-IA), Roger Williams (R-TX), Glenn Thompson (R-PA), Tim Burchett (R -TN), Carol Miller (R-WV), Lloyd Smucker (R-PA), Ralph Norman (R-SC), Brett Guthrie (R-KY), Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA), Chip Roy (R-TX), Virginia Foxx (R-NC), August Pfluger (R-TX), Randy Weber (R-TX), Diana Harshbarger (R-TN), Ronny Jackson (R-TX), Mark Alford (R-MO), John Rose (R-TN), Darin LaHood (R-IL), Adrian Smith (R-NE), Bill Johnson (R-OH), H. Morgan Griffith (R-VA), Mark Green (R-TN), Charles Fleischmann (R-TN), Michael Cloud (R-TX), Elise Stefanik (R-NY), Gregory Murphy (R-NC), Bob Good (R-VA), Victoria Spartz, (R-IN), Steve Womack (R-AR), John Joyce (R-PA), Beth Van Duyne (R-TX), Dan Newhouse (R-WA), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA), Russell Fry (R-SC), John Curtis (R-UT), Rick Allen (R-GA), Warren Davidson (R-OH, Nicholas Langworthy (R-NY), Larry Bucshon (R-IN), Brian Babin (R-TX), Zachary Nunn (R-IA), Troy Nehls (R-TX), Matthew Rosendale (R-MT), Staphanie Bice (R-OK), Robert Aderholt (R-AL), Troy Balderson (R-OH), Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Mike Kelly (R-PA), Lisa McClain (R-MI), Paul Gosar (R-AZ), Mike Carey (R-OH), Harriet Hageman (R-WY), Michelle Steel (R-CA), Jim Banks (R-IN), Earl Carter (R-GA), Garret Graves (R-LA), Lauren Boebert (R-CO), Jodey Arrington (R-TX), Andy Barr (R-KY), Jake Ellzey (R-TX), Don Bacon (R-NE), Daniel Meuser (R-PA), Kevin Hern (R-OK), Pete Sessions (R-TX), Byron Donalds (R-FL), Trent Kelly (R-MS), Chuck Edwards (R-NC), Michael Turner (R-OH), James Baird (R-IN), Andrew Ogles (R-TN), David Valadao (R-CA), Jefferson Van Drew (R-NJ), John Carter (R-TX), Scott Fitzgerald (R-WI), W. Gregory Steube (R-FL), Clay Higgins (R-LA), C. Scott Franklin (R-FL), John Duarte (R-CA), Tony Gonzales (R-TX), Eric Burlison (R-MO), Michael Lawler (R-NY), Richard Hudson (R-NC), Jeff Duncan (R-SC), Debbie Lesko (R-AZ), Nancy Mace (R-SC), A. Drew Ferguson (R-GA), Rudy Yakym (R-IN), Cory Mills (R-FL), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Mary Miller (R-IL), David Rouzer (R-NC), Tom McClintock (R-CA), Jake LaTurner (R-KS), Greg Pence (R-IN), Michael Simpson (R-ID), John Rutherford (R-FL), Bruce Westerman (R-AR), Julia Letlow (R-LA), Doug LaMalfa (R-CA), Pete Stauber (R-MN), Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO), Vern Buchanan (R-FL), Derrick Van Orden (R-WI), Erin Houchin (R-IN), Michael McCaul (R-TX), Bryan Steil (R-WI), Gary Palmer (R-AL), Michelle Fischbach (R-MN), Ben Cline (R-VA), Robert Latta (R-OH), Andrew Garbarino (R-NY), Jerry Carl (R-AL), Ken Calvert (R-CA), Russ Fulcher (R-ID), Mike Garcia (R-CA), Aaron Bean (R-FL), Jim Jordan (R-OH), Monica De La Cruz (R-TX), Nathaniel Moran (R-TX), Jack Bergman (R-MI), Keith Self (R-TX), Barry Moore (R-AL), Tim Walberg (R-MI), Mike Ezell (R-MS), Ken Buck (R-CO), J. French Hill (R-AR), Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), Mike Collins (R-GA), Kevin Kiley (R-CA), Andrew Clyde (R-GA), Alexander Mooney (R-WV), Michael Waltz (R-FL), Dan Crenshaw (R-TX), Scott DesJarlais (R-TN), Kelly Armstrong (R-ND), Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-OR), Joe Wilson (R-SC), Max Miller ([R-OH), Kay Granger (R-TX), Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Ryan Zinke (R-MT), Richard McCormick (R-GA) and Del. James Moylan (R-GU)
  • Committee Of Jurisdiction: House Ways and Means

There are two bills in Congress that would ease the burden of the estate tax, something that is particularly important for family-owned businesses, like many funeral homes in the United States.

H.R. 338 would do just what it says – repeal the estate tax – enabling family businesses to pass from one generation to the next without penalty.

S. 1108/H.R. 7035 would also permanently repeal the federal estate tax and generation-skipping transfer taxes and reform the gift tax, enabling family-owned businesses to remain family-owned for generations to come.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Reform Bills

No Industrial Restrictions In Secret Act

• S. 3724  
  • Sponsors: Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA)
  • Committee of Jurisdiction: Senate Environment and Public Works
• H.R. 7284
  • Sponsor: Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-WI)
  • Committees of Jurisdiction: House Energy and Commerce; House Agriculture; and
  • House Transportation and Infrastructure

Sound Science for Farmers Act (S. 3719)  

• Sponsor: Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC)
• Original Co-sponsor: Joe Manchin (D-WV)
• Committee of Jurisdiction: Senate Environment and Public Works

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has undertaken a review of formaldehyde, a vital tool for funeral directors, to assess whether it poses an unreasonable risk to human health or the environment. This review is being conducted as part of the EPA’s Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) program under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).

There are two bills before Congress that would reform the EPA’s process for reviewing chemicals under IRIS/TSCA:

• S. 3724/H.R. 7284 would prohibit the EPA from using the IRIS program to inform its rulemakings unless Congress explicitly authorizes the program.
  • The EPA established the IRIS program in 1985 to gather data on how chemicals impact human health. The IRIS program is not authorized in statute.
  • IRIS was designed to spot health hazards – not make policy. Unfortunately, the EPA’s use of the IRIS program has been causing harm to a wide range of industries and businesses.
• S. 3719 would ensure a full, open peer review of EPA draft or final assessments, evaluations, or regulations with an impact on agriculture, including for scientific quality, transparency, reproducibility of key results, effects on the agricultural sector, and consideration of real-world exposure.
  • While this bill addresses concerns in the agriculture sector, it has vital implications for other TSCA reviews, like that of formaldehyde.
  • On October 30, 2023, the EPA proposed changes to its chemical risk evaluation framework that undermine peer review and scientific standards for “best available science” under the TSCA.
    • The lack of rigorous interagency and peer review of these chemical assessments results in regulations with a direct, negative impact on the review process.