Bill Text: CT SB00362 | 2016 | General Assembly | Comm Sub

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Bill Title: An Act Modifying The Regulatory Flexibility Analysis Of Regulations Affecting Small Businesses.

Spectrum: Committee Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-05-03 - Senate Recommitted to Government Administration and Elections [SB00362 Detail]

Download: Connecticut-2016-SB00362-Comm_Sub.html

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General Assembly		Raised Bill No. 362
February Session, 2016		LCO No. 2552
		*_____SB00362CE____042116____*
Referred to Committee on GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION AND ELECTIONS
Introduced by:
(GAE)

AN ACT MODIFYING THE REGULATORY FLEXIBILITY ANALYSIS OF REGULATIONS AFFECTING SMALL BUSINESSES.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. Section 4-168a of the 2016 supplement to the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2016):

(a) As used in this section:

(1) "Agency", "proposed regulation" and "regulation" have the same meanings as provided in section 4-166; and

(2) "Small business" means a business entity, including its affiliates, that (A) is independently owned and operated and (B) employs fewer than [seventy-five] two hundred fifty full-time employees or has gross annual sales of less than five million dollars, [provided] except that an agency, in adopting regulations in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, may define "small business" to include a greater number of full-time employees, not to exceed applicable federal standards or five hundred, whichever is less, if necessary to meet the needs and address specific problems of small businesses.

(b) Prior to or at the time of issuing a notice for hearing or public comment regarding the adoption of any proposed regulation pursuant to section 4-168, as amended by this act, each agency shall prepare a regulatory flexibility analysis [in which the agency shall, to the extent appropriate, utilize regulatory methods] of the proposed regulation that identifies:

(1) The scope and objectives of the regulation;

(2) The types of small businesses potentially affected by the regulation;

(3) The total number of small businesses potentially subject to the regulation;

(4) The potential necessity that small businesses, in order to comply with the regulation, be required to: (A) Create, file or issue additional reports; (B) implement additional recordkeeping procedures; (C) provide additional administrative oversight; (D) hire additional employees; (E) hire one or more professionals, including, but not limited to, an attorney, accountant, engineer, auditor or inspector; (F) purchase a product or make any other capital investment; (G) conduct additional training, audits or inspections; or (H) pay additional taxes or fees;

(5) Whether, and to what extent, the agency communicated with small businesses or small business organizations in developing the proposed regulation and the regulatory flexibility analysis;

(6) Whether, and to what extent, the regulation provides alternate compliance methods for small businesses that will accomplish the objectives of applicable statutes while minimizing adverse impact on small businesses. Such [regulatory] methods shall be consistent with public health, safety and welfare [. The agency shall use, to the extent appropriate, each of the following methods of reducing the impact of the proposed regulation on small businesses] and may include, but need not be limited to, the following:

[(1)] (A) The establishment of less stringent compliance or reporting requirements for small businesses;

[(2)] (B) The establishment of less stringent schedules or deadlines for compliance or reporting requirements for small businesses;

[(3)] (C) The consolidation or simplification of compliance or reporting requirements for small businesses;

[(4)] (D) The establishment of performance standards for small businesses to replace design or operational standards required in the proposed regulation; and

[(5)] (E) The exemption of small businesses from all or any part of the requirements contained in the proposed regulation.

(c) Prior to the adoption of any proposed regulation that may have an adverse impact on small businesses, each agency shall notify the Department of Economic and Community Development and the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to commerce of its intent to adopt the proposed regulation. Said department and committee shall advise and assist agencies in complying with the provisions of this section.

(d) The requirements [contained in] of this section shall not apply to emergency regulations issued pursuant to subsection (g) of section 4-168; regulations that do not affect small businesses directly, including, but not limited to, regulations concerning the administration of federal programs; regulations concerning costs and standards for service businesses such as nursing homes, long-term care facilities, medical care providers, day care facilities, water companies, nonprofit 501(c)(3) agencies, group homes and residential care facilities; and regulations adopted to implement the provisions of sections 4a-60g to 4a-60i, inclusive.

Sec. 2. Subsection (a) of section 4-168 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2016):

(a) Except as provided in subsections (g) and (h) of this section, an agency, not less than thirty days prior to adopting a proposed regulation, shall (1) post a notice of its intended action on the eRegulations System, which notice shall include (A) a specified public comment period of not less than thirty days, (B) a description sufficiently detailed so as to apprise persons likely to be affected of the issues and subjects involved in the proposed regulation, (C) a statement of the purposes for which the regulation is proposed, (D) a reference to the statutory authority for the proposed regulation, (E) [when,] where and how interested persons may obtain a copy of the small business impact and regulatory flexibility analysis required pursuant to section 4-168a, as amended by this act, and (F) when, where and how interested persons may present their views on the proposed regulation; (2) post a copy of the proposed regulation on the eRegulations System; (3) give notice electronically to each joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of the subject matter of the proposed regulation; (4) give notice electronically or provide a paper copy notice, if requested, to all persons who have made requests to the agency for advance notice of its regulation-making proceedings; (5) provide a paper copy or electronic version of the proposed regulation to persons requesting it; and (6) prepare a fiscal note, including an estimate of the cost or of the revenue impact (A) on the state or any municipality of the state, and (B) on small businesses in the state, including an estimate of the number of small businesses subject to the proposed regulation and the projected costs, including but not limited to, reporting, recordkeeping and administrative, associated with compliance with the proposed regulation and, if applicable, the regulatory flexibility analysis prepared under section 4-168a, as amended by this act. The governing body of any municipality, if requested, shall provide the agency, within twenty working days, with any information that may be necessary for analysis in preparation of such fiscal note.

Sec. 3. Section 31-51ww of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2016):

As used in this section and sections 31-51xx to 31-51eee, inclusive:

(1) "Account holder" means a participant in a certified state IDA program;

(2) "Department" means the Labor Department;

(3) "Approved plan" means a plan prepared jointly by the account holder and the community-based organization that defines savings goals, program requirements and permissible uses of the individual development account and its matching funds pursuant to sections 31-51xx to 31-51aaa, inclusive, and regulations adopted pursuant to section 31-51ddd. The approved plan shall be a contract between the account holder and the community-based organization;

(4) "Area median income" means area median household income as determined from time to time by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development;

(5) "Certified state IDA program" means a program of matched savings accounts that has been certified by the department in accordance with regulations adopted pursuant to section 31-51ddd;

(6) "Clearinghouse" means a service to provide organizations interested in establishing, or which have established, individual development account programs with literature on federal, state and other sources of funding, guidelines for best practices and program standards, and information regarding the establishment and maintenance of certified state IDA programs;

(7) "Community-based organization" means an organization exempt from taxation pursuant to section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or any subsequent corresponding internal revenue code of the United States, as from time to time amended, which meets the requirements set forth in regulations pursuant to section 31-51ddd;

(8) "Education" means (A) a postsecondary program of instruction provided by a college, university, community college, area technical high school, professional institution or specialized college or school legally authorized to grant degrees, or (B) any related educational program approved by the community-based organization and the department;

(9) "Entrepreneurial activity" means the purchase of or investment in a small business [, as defined in subsection (a) of section 4-168a,] in Connecticut in which, upon such purchase or investment, the account holder will be a principal;

(10) "Federal poverty level" means the most recent poverty income guidelines published by the United States Department of Health and Human Services;

(11) "Financial institution" means a "financial institution", as defined in section 36a-330;

(12) "Household" means a household, as defined in the federal Assets for Independence Act, P.L. 105-235;

(13) "Individual development account" means a savings account, maintained in a program that is established pursuant to section 31-51xx that is held in a financial institution, for the sole purpose of holding the funds of the account holder for one of the purposes described in subsection (a) of section 31-51xx;

(14) "Individual Development Account Reserve Fund" means a nonlapsing fund administered by the department for the purposes of providing matching funds for individual development accounts in certified state IDA programs, and for funding costs incurred by community-based organizations in the operation and administration of such programs and department's administrative costs for the Connecticut IDA Initiative;

(15) "Connecticut IDA Initiative" means the state-wide individual development account initiative established in section 31-51xx;

(16) "Job training" means a program for job entrance or skill development approved by the community-based organization and the department; [and]

(17) "Qualified disabled individual" means a disabled individual eligible for assistance to the disabled pursuant to chapter 319mm; and

(18) "Small business" means a business entity, including its affiliates, that (A) is independently owned and operated, and (B) employs fewer than seventy-five full-time employees or has gross annual sales of less than five million dollars.

This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1	October 1, 2016	4-168a
Sec. 2	October 1, 2016	4-168(a)
Sec. 3	October 1, 2016	31-51ww

GAE	Joint Favorable
CE	Joint Favorable