Sen. Rubio Pushes For More Small Biz Input on Regs

Looks like small cable operators will have a friend in new Small Business Committee chair Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).

His first act as chairman was to introduce a quintet of bills to boost small businesses and give them a bigger role in their regulatory future.

The American Cable Association's principal role in Washington has been to stand up for its small business members by advising the FCC and Congress about the particular impact of regulations on them versus larger players with deep pockets.

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Rubio is clearly on the same page and wants to make such consideration part of the law. One of the bills, the Hearing Small Business Act, will "expand small businesses’ role in the regulatory process and require the government to consider feedback from small businesses in forming new regulations."

“America’s small businesses represent economic dynamism and a sense of community that is often missing from American life.

Amidst rapid technological advances, shifting global economic trends, and rising foreign adversaries," said Rubio.

Another of the bills would provide, The Small Business Credit Protection Act, would provide special notification requirements and free credit reports to small businesses hit by data breaches like the Equifax breach of 2017.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.