Connecticut legislators are currently considering a bill that will help improve the regulatory climate for small businesses in Connecticut. House bill 5930, sponsored by Rep. Diana Urban, D-Stonington, would require state agencies to consider the costs to small business of proposed regulations.
Representative Urban discussed the importance of this legislation in a recent Hartford Business Journal Online article.
“We all know that small business is the economic engine for this country,” she said. “Knowing the importance of small business to our economy, it only makes sense to do what we can to help them.”
Current law already directs agencies to conduct a regulatory flexibility analysis. The bill would require that the business cost impact and regulatory flexibility analyses be completed when the rule is first proposed, rather than “prior to the adoption of the proposed regulation.” The change will provide small businesses an opportunity to alert regulators to unanticipated costs and less onerous approaches to achieving their regulatory goals. The bill also expands the definition of small business from businesses employing fewer than 50 employees to businesses employing fewer than 75.
The bill gained unanimous approval from the Joint Committee on Commerce and was filed with the Legislative Commissioners’ Office on March 11th.
— – Kate Reichert, Regulatory & Legislative Counsel