H.R. 1548 would exempt the Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation within the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) from the Paperwork Reduction Act. Under current law, agencies must estimate the burden associated with each collection of information, obtain approval from the Office of Management and Budget to collect it, and announce collections in the Federal Register.
The exemption under the bill could reduce the SEC’s costs by an insignificant amount each year. However, because the SEC is authorized to collect fees each year to offset its annual appropriation, CBO expects that the agency would adjust fees to match lower operating costs. On that basis, CBO estimates that the net effect on discretionary spending over the 2023-2028 period would be negligible, assuming appropriation actions consistent with that authority.
