General Assembly Raised Bill No. 302
February Session, 2016 LCO No. 1994
*01994_______CE_*
Referred to Committee on COMMERCE
Introduced by:
(CE)
General Assembly
Raised Bill No. 302
February Session, 2016
LCO No. 1994
*01994_______CE_*
Referred to Committee on COMMERCE
Introduced by:
(CE)
AN ACT CONCERNING THE IMPACT OF PROPOSED LEGISLATION AND PROPOSED REGULATIONS ON BUSINESSES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 2-24 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2016):
The words "State of Connecticut" shall be printed at the head of each bill and document printed by order of the General Assembly, or either house thereof, and on its title page or cover, if any. Before printed, electronic or photographic copies of an original bill are made, the bill shall be endorsed with (1) the date of its introduction; (2) its number; (3) the name of the member or committee introducing it; and (4) the name of the committee to which it was referred. Copies of bills or resolutions printed or produced electronically after favorable report by a committee or reprinted or produced electronically after amendment on the third reading, i.e., files, shall bear the file number of such bill or resolution, placed conspicuously at the head of the same, which file number shall be assigned by the Legislative Commissioners' Office in the order printed or produced, the number and title of the bill, the name of the committee to which it was referred, the date and nature of the committee's report, and, in any case where the bill, if passed, would require the expenditure of state or municipal funds, [or] affect state or municipal revenue or require the expenditure of funds by or affect the revenue to any business in the state, a fiscal note, including (1) an estimate of the cost or of the revenue impact to the state or municipalities, and (2) an estimate of the number of businesses that would be subject to the provisions of the bill and the projected costs, including, but not limited to, those relating to reporting, recordkeeping and administration, associated with compliance with such bill, shall be appended thereto. When a bill or resolution is accompanied with a report of a committee, other than a recommendation that it ought or ought not to pass, it shall then have an additional endorsement, as follows: "Accompanied by special report, No.-". Bills shall be designated in the calendar of each house by their file numbers, as well as by the titles and numbers of the bills.
Sec. 2. Subsection (c) of section 2-71c of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2016):
(c) The legislative Office of Fiscal Analysis shall assist the General Assembly and the Legislative Department, legislative commissions and legislative committees in a research and advisory capacity as follows: (1) Reviewing department and program operating budget requests; (2) analyzing and helping to establish priorities with regard to capital programs; (3) checking executive revenue estimates for accuracy; (4) recommending potential untapped sources of revenue; (5) assisting in legislative hearings and helping to schedule and prepare the agenda of such hearings; (6) assisting in the development of means by which budgeted programs can be periodically reviewed; (7) preparing short analyses of the costs and long-range projections of executive programs and proposed agency regulations; (8) keeping track of federal aid programs to make sure that Connecticut is taking full advantage of opportunities for assistance; (9) reviewing, on a continuous basis, departmental budgets and programs; (10) analyzing and preparing critiques of the Governor's proposed budget; (11) studying, in depth, selected executive programs during the interim; (12) performing such other services in the field of finance as may be requested by the Joint Committee on Legislative Management; (13) preparing the fiscal notes, required under section 2-24, as amended by this act, upon favorably reported bills which require expenditure of state or municipal funds or affect state or municipal revenue or require the expenditure of funds by or affect the revenue to any business in the state; and (14) preparing at the end of each fiscal year a compilation of all fiscal notes on legislation and agency regulations taking effect in the next fiscal year, including the total costs, savings and revenue effects estimated in such notes. The governing body of any municipality, if requested, shall provide the Office of Fiscal Analysis, within two working days, with any information that may be necessary for analysis in preparation of such fiscal notes. Each officer, board, commission or department of the state government shall assist the Office of Fiscal Analysis in carrying out its duties and, if requested, shall make its records and accounts available to the office in a timely manner, except that where there are statutory requirements of confidentiality with regard to such records and accounts, the identity of any person to whom such records or accounts relate shall not be disclosed.
Sec. 3. 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 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 [the adoption of any proposed regulation] or concomitant with the posting of a notice pursuant to section 4-168, each agency shall prepare a regulatory flexibility analysis in which the agency shall [, to the extent appropriate, utilize regulatory methods] identify:
(1) The scope and objectives of the proposed regulation;
(2) The types of businesses potentially affected by the proposed regulation;
(3) The total number of small businesses potentially subject to the proposed regulation;
(4) Whether small businesses, in order to comply with the proposed regulation, may 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 or contract with additional professionals, including, but not limited to, lawyers, accountants, engineers, auditors or inspectors; (F) purchase any product or make any 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, if applicable;
(6) Whether and to what extent the proposed regulation provides alternative 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 not be limited to:
[(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 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.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2016 2-24
Sec. 2 October 1, 2016 2-71c(c)
Sec. 3 October 1, 2016 4-168a
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1
October 1, 2016
2-24
Sec. 2
October 1, 2016
2-71c(c)
Sec. 3
October 1, 2016
4-168a
Statement of Purpose:
To require fiscal notes by the Office of Fiscal Analysis to include an estimate of the number of businesses that would be affected by proposed legislation and an estimated fiscal impact on such businesses and, for regulatory flexibility analyses of proposed regulations, to redefine small business to include any business with two hundred fifty or fewer employees and to require additional information in such analyses.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]