Alabama businesses are one step closer to seeing regulatory relief from state government thanks to the Red Tape Reduction Act, or HB 101, sponsored by Rep. April Weaver, R-Brierfield, which passed out of the House State Government Committee on Wednesday.
If passed, this bill would be a huge victory for small businesses that spend countless hours complying with an onslaught of state and federal regulations.
As a long-time champion of regulatory reform, the BCA couldn’t agree more with Rep. Weaver when she said, “Several business owners in my district have complained that satisfying bureaucratic red tape requirements eats up man hours, produces numerous compliance costs and takes their attention away from their main objective – keeping the doors open and providing jobs. State government should concentrate on giving business owners the tools they need to remain successful instead of finding ways to suffocate them under the weight of needless government oversight and mounds of paperwork.”
If passed into law, HB 101 would:
Require any agency, other than those strictly involved in licensing, to file a Business Economic Impact Statement with the Joint Committee on Administrative Regulation Review prior to its adoption, if the agency receives a complaint that the regulation might negatively impact a business.
Require all existing rules and regulations to be reviewed every five years in order to determine whether they should be amended, rescinded or remain unchanged.
Require that information related to proposed and existing regulation reviews also be placed on agency websites in order to allow for public access.
As stated in BCA’s 2013 Legislative Agenda, the BCA will actively work to enact legislation that requires a small business regulatory flexibility analysis and a small business economic impact statement when a state agency proposes a new rule or rule change.
– Mark Colson