AB 1098, as amended, Quirk-Silva. Office of Small Business Advocate: regulations: report.
Existing law creates the Office of Small Business Advocate within the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development. Existing law establishes the duties and functions of the advocate, which include advisory participation in the consideration of all legislation and administrative regulations that effect small businesses.
This bill would require the advocate to commission a study, to be conducted every five years, of the costs of state regulations on small businesses, as specified, and to convenebegin delete a small business advisory committee, representing a cross section of the small business community,end deletebegin insert one or more stakeholder meetingsend insert to provide advice on
the study. The bill would require that the study, upon completion and including recommendations, bebegin delete submitted to the Department of Finance, the Speaker of the Assembly, the Senate President pro Tempore, and specified legislative committees.end deletebegin insert posted on the advocate’s Internet Web site. end insertbegin insertThis bill would require the advocate to notify the Department of Finance, at least 30 days prior to commissioning the study, that sufficient funds are available from end insertbegin inserta non-General Fund source.end insert
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
The Legislature hereby finds and declares:
2(a) Small business remains the backbone of the state’s economy.
3Regulatory burdens and costs continue to be one of the major
4complaints of small businesses.
5(b) The federal Small Business Administration began analyzing
6the cost and burdens of federal regulations on small businesses in
71995. A recent report found that the annual cost of federal
8regulations in the United States totaled $1.75 trillion. It also found
9the costs of federal regulations on firms with fewer than 20
10employees was $10,585 in 2010. For small businesses, the
11regulatory
and paperwork costs were found to be more burdensome
12for the small firms than larger firms.
13(c) Small businesses significantly impact California’s economy.
14They represent 99.2 percent of all employers and employ 50.4
15percent of the private-sector labor force. Small businesses are
16crucial to the fiscal condition of the state and numbered 3.5 million
17in 2010.
18(d) The state does not have a current analysis on state regulatory
19costs similar to that created for federal regulatory costs.
20Understanding the financial effect of state regulations would help
21policymakers reduce or design more cost-effective regulatory
22approaches that achieve desired policy objectives while placing
23the least burden on the regulated industries.
Section 12098.7 is added to the Government Code, to
25read:
The advocate shall do all of the following:
27(a) Commission a study, to be conducted every five years, of
28the costs of state regulations on small businesses, which shall,
29among other things, do all of the following:
30(1) Parallel, to the extent feasible and practical, the scope and
31study on the impact of regulatory costs on small firms conducted
32by the federal Small Business Administration.
P3 1(2) Examine successful models from other states on identifying
2regulatory costs and developing potential alternative approaches
3that meet the same regulatory objectives, but are less
burdensome
4on small businesses.
5(b) Convenebegin delete a small business advisory committeeend deletebegin insert one or more
6stakeholder meetingsend insert to provide advice on the study required
7pursuant to subdivision (a). Thebegin delete committeeend deletebegin insert stakeholdersend insert shall
8include, but not be limited to, representatives from small business
9associations representing a cross section of the small business
10community.
11(c) begin delete(1)end deletebegin delete end deleteNo
later than January 1, 2015, and every five years
12thereafter,begin delete submitend deletebegin insert postend insert the completed study required pursuant to
13subdivision (a), including recommendationsbegin delete, to the Department of
14Finance, the Speaker of the Assembly, the Senate President pro
15Tempore, the chair of the Assembly Committee on Jobs, Economic
16Development, and the Economy and the chair of the Senate
17Committee on Government Modernization, Efficiency and
18Accountability.end delete
begin delete19(2) The report to be provided pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be
20submitted in compliance
with Section 9795 of the Government
21Code.end delete
22provide notice to the Department of Finance, the Speaker of the
23Assembly, the Senate President pro Tempore, the chair of the
24Assembly, Committee on Jobs, Economic Development, and the
25Economy, and the chair of the Senate Committee on Government
26Modernization, Efficiency and Accountability, that information is
27publicly available. The study shall remain available on the Internet
28Web site at least until the next study is posted.end insert
29(d) For the purposes of the study, information shall be provided
30based on nonemployer businesses, businesses with five or fewer
31employees, businesses with 99 or fewer employees, businesses with
32499 or fewer
employees, and businesses with more than 500
33employees.
34(e) Prior to commissioning the study, the advocate shall
35determine that sufficient funds to conduct the study are available
36from a non-General Fund source. At least 30 days prior to
37commissioning the study, the advocate shall notify the Department
38of Finance that the advocate has determined that sufficient funding
39is available and that the advocate will commission the study.
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