Help for small firms sought

A House bill would allow businesses to force state agencies to further study proposed administrative rules if complying with those rules would cost the businesses too much money.

HB53 — substituted, amended and passed out of the House Business and Labor Committee this week — is designed to require agencies to consider ways to minimize the financial impact of agency rules on small businesses, defined as those with 50 or fewer employees.

The bill's sponsor, Rep. Stephen Clark, R-Provo, said the bill is "pro-business" and will require agencies to consider less-stringent, consolidated or simplified rules. The bill also calls for exempting small businesses from all or portions of proposed rules.

The process calls for agencies to have public hearings, and if a business testifies that a rule would cost it more than one day's annual average gross receipts, the agency would be required to conduct a more-thorough analysis of the rule.

"What we're trying to do is strike a good compromise between administrative rule-makers and also small business," Clark said. "We want them to be aware and sensitive of small business when they make rules, and the only way they can do that is by looking specifically at small business and looking at the rule and see if there's going to be fiscal impact on them."

Rep. Ben Ferry, R-Corinne, said the bill is "just a check and balance" for rulemaking agencies if a proposed rule "impacts business contrary to what they think in trying to carry out the rule and the policy of the Legislature."

Rep. Kevin Garn, R-Layton, wondered if the bill should apply to all businesses rather than just small ones.

"I think this is good legislation," Garn said. "With some agencies there's an insensitivity towards business in general, and this is probably a good first step."

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E-mail: bwallace@desnews.com