Hinson Votes to Protect Small Businesses, Urges Congress to Take Next Step Removing Burdensome Regulations

Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Ashley Hinson (IA-02) released the below statement after voting in favor of the Protect Small Business from Excessive Paperwork Act. This legislation would give small business owners more time and clarity to meet new reporting requirements without incurring additional penalties. Additionally, Congresswoman Hinson is a co-sponsor of the Repealing Big Brother Overreach Act, which would repeal the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) and eliminate burdensome mandates harming America’s small businesses. 
 
“I voted in favor of the Protect Small Business from Excessive Paperwork Act to give our Main Street community a reprieve from insane beneficial ownership paperwork requirements. Without action, many small business owners will face fines of $500 per day or even jail time.
 
“It’s past time to end the obsessive regulations on our small business community—which is why I also cosponsored the Repealing Big Brother Overreach Act to support a full repeal of the Corporate Transparency Act to end this misguided overreach. End the ridiculous paperwork and regulatory regime, unleash jobs and economic growth—it's that simple.”  – Congresswoman Ashley Hinson

Background on the Protect Small Business from Excessive Paperwork Act:

• This bill revises requirements for U.S. small business owners that took effect on January 1, 2024. Specifically, this bill extends the deadline one year for filing beneficial ownership information reports for reporting companies formed or registered before January 1, 2024, to the Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

Background on the Repealing Big Brother Overreach Act:

• Over 32 million small businesses will be affected by FinCEN’s Beneficial Ownership Information reporting requirements, and many do not know that they will need to comply. 
  • According to a National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) survey, 83% of NFIB members had never even heard of the beneficial ownership reporting requirement regulation.
• Last Congress, Rep. Hinson asked then-Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen how the previous administration planned to help over 32 million small businesses comply with burdensome, overreaching beneficial ownership requirements. To no one’s surprise, she had no answer.
• The CTA has civil and criminal penalties of up to $10,000 and two years of jail time for failure to comply—an absurd and unconstitutional targeting scheme against the small business community. 
• Rep. Hinson has supported legislative efforts to protect small businesses from the poor rollout of these requirements, both on the House floor and through Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) appropriations. This important legislation will provide business owners with long-term certainty and eliminate an onerous mandate.