5-bill package will help reduce burden on small business
On Tuesday January 16, NFIB’s Executive State Director, Kevin Shivers stood with a group of legislators and organizations in the state Capitol to support the announcement of a package of bills intended to reform Pennsylvania’s regulatory environment. The effort, led by the House State Government Committee is aimed at addressing onerous and duplicate regulations and cutting the red tape that holds back businesses and economic growth in the state.
Included in the package are bills that will:
- Establish an Office of the Repealer to make recommendations to repeal, modify, or revise current regulations. This bill would also require that two regulations must be repealed for every new regulation that is proposed.
- Require approval by the General Assembly of any regulation that costs the state more than $1 million per year.
- Give the General Assembly the ability to repeal a proposed or current regulation, with the approval of the governor.
- Require every agency to appoint a Regulatory Compliance Officer to work collaboratively with the regulated community. Also, allow a safe harbor for businesses that require and follow advisory opinions on how to comply with regulations. Permits the officer to waiver fines and penalties for self-reporting of violations.
- Requires agencies to post information about the progress of permit applications on their websites, create an online tracking system to check the status of permit applications, and clearly state the legal authority for rejecting permit applications. Also requires agencies to outsource permit reviews to 3rd parties if they take longer than 30 days.
NFIB-PA is working closely with state legislators to make sure regulatory reform stays at the top of the agenda this spring in the state capitol. For more details, see http://www.cityandstatepa.com/content/republican-lawmakers-introduce-regulatory-reform-report-bill-package.
