In the closing days of January, NFIB/Washington members saw key early victories on several key pieces of business issues.
In the Senate Commerce, Labor & Sports Committee, NFIB’s “Small Business Bill of Rights” inventory legislation, SB 5230, was heard and approved unanimously during the same meeting. Committee member and prime sponsor Sen. Lynda Wilson gave an excellent introduction and overview. Lead co-sponsor Sen. Guy Palumbo gave compelling testimony, reinforcing strong, bipartisan support for the bill. SB 5230 was referred to the Senate Ways & Means Committee pending a complete fiscal note detailing agency cost estimates for the project. HB 1352, the House companion bill has not yet been scheduled for action.
We began and ended the week with meetings on legislation to amend the state’s Regulatory Fairness Act (RFA). The Act describes when agencies must perform a Small Business Economic Impact Study as part of the rule-making process. A determination of a more-than-minor economic impact then triggers a requirement to mitigate costs for small businesses, within certain legal limits. Not surprisingly, a State Auditor’s performance audit recently found agencies often fail to fully comply with the RFA. In response, Rep. Norma Smith introduced HB 1120, which would incorporate several of the Auditor’s recommendations and make other improvements to the RFA. Meanwhile, the governor’s office convened an interagency work group to explore administrative changes to improve agency compliance with the Act. That work group has also provided suggested amendments to Rep. Smith’s bill.
NFIB is one of three business associations invited by the governor’s office to participate in the work group.
