STAND. COM. REP. NO.765

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2003

RE: S.B. No. 1284

S.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Economic Development, to which was referred S.B. No. 1284 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE SMALL BUSINESS REGULATORY FLEXIBILITY ACT,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure, as received by your Committee, is to clarify certain provisions within the Small Business Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) related to the use and legal import of small business impact statements within the administrative rule making process.

Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. Testimony in opposition to this measure was submitted by a member of the Small Business Regulatory Review Board and ten small business owners. The Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii and the Chair of the Small Business Regulatory Review Board submitted comments.

Your Committee finds that Hawaii was among the first states to pass a Small Business RFA that proactively seeks input from small businesses and thereby results in more small-business friendly government procedures and processes. Your Committee further finds that since the Small Business RFA has only been in existence for a short time, substantive changes at this time are premature, and agrees with similar concerns expressed by the small business community.

Thus, based on this finding, your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Deleting Section 2 of the measure in its entirety; and

(2) Redrafting the purpose section to reflect the remaining provisions of the measure.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Economic Development that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1284, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1284, S.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Economic Development,

____________________________

CAROL FUKUNAGA, Chair