A couple of weeks ago, more than 50 ACT | The App Association members traveled to DC to share their perspectives on the top policy issues on their minds today. At the top of that list? The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) recent actions to eliminate mergers and acquisitions (M&A). More broadly, our mission is to ensure that the government accounts for small business perspectives and we applaud the House Small Business Committee’s recent report on how well (or poorly) federal agencies are doing just that.

As we’ve detailed, the FTC is putting on a clinic these days on how to make it impossible for firms to merge or seek an acquisition. The most recent of their actions is a proposed update to the premerger filing requirements for transactions over $119 million under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act. The proposed updates would increase the number of lawyer hours required for such filings from 37 to 144 and add to an already nightmarish set of changes by the FTC that leave potential acquisitions in limbo and under constant threat. Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), the FTC is required to either certify that there is no significant impact on a substantial number of small businesses from the proposed rule or else conduct an analysis with an opportunity for small businesses to participate in the record. As all of our member companies who participated in our meetings last week can attest, the FTC made a mistake in certifying that there would be no significant impact because drastic new red tape and uncertainty on mergers of any size directly undermine small businesses’ ability to be acquired.

As a result, we are happy to see the House Small Business Committee’s report on federal agency adherence to RFA requirements and appreciate the Committee staff’s careful work in this regard. Although the report doesn’t include the HSR rule itself (as of today, it’s not yet final), the scrutiny is warranted and welcome. The fact that the FTC deemed the RFA analysis unnecessary for the proposed rule at a time when cash is tight, loan rates are high, and investors are wary is a strong signal that agencies have fallen into a pattern of box-checking that must be second-guessed. Whether or not the HSR proposal is finalized, we are hopeful that Congress’ scrutiny and interest in small business’ stake in rules directed at larger entities are fully understood before adding new peaks to the existing mountain range of regulation.