PA Chamber applauds state Senate action on regulatory flexibility bill

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PA Chamber applauds state Senate action on regulatory flexibility bill

Legislation would require agencies to consider regulatory impact on small business

The PA Chamber applauds members of a state Senate committee for advancing a bill that would help ease regulatory burdens on Pennsylvania’s small businesses.

H.B. 1349 would amend the Regulatory Review Act by adding “small business,” as determined by the federal definition, to the list of stakeholders on economic impact statements. The measure would require state agencies to submit an economic impact statement to the Independent Regulatory review Commission that would analyze the type and number of small businesses that would be affected by a proposed regulation and the financial impact it would take to achieve compliance.

House Bill 1349 would also direct state agencies to conduct a regulatory flexibility analysis to determine if a proposed regulation would have a negative impact on small business. If that is found to be the case, those businesses could be held to a less stringent compliance standard; be given more workable compliance deadlines or alternative performance standards; or even given full exemption from the proposed regulation as long as health and safety were not adversely impacted.

The bill was most recently passed by the Senate State Government Committee and will soon be considered by the full Senate.

When H.B. 1349 was being considered by the state House in early October, the PA Chamber issued a memo urging support of the measure. The Chamber stressed that the bill would ensure that compliance is being reached without taking away from a business’s ability to operate, maintain and potentially grow their workforce, and stay competitive.

Advocating for streamlined, reasonable regulations at the state and federal level is a priority for the PA Chamber. Having expressed these concerns at a series of public legislative hearings this session that examined the costs of government regulation and its impact on job creators, PA Chamber members believe that passage of this bill will begin to improve the state’s regulatory culture in a way that helps balance economic growth with protecting public health and safety.

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Founded in 1916, the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry is the state's largest broad-based business association, with its membership comprising businesses of all sizes and across all industry sectors. The PA Chamber is The Statewide Voice of Business.

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