Expansion of New Jersey's Regulatory Flexibility Act Passes Legislature
Monday, January 11, 2010

MEMORANDUM

TO: Members of the New Jersey Senate

FROM: Christina M. Genovese, Director, Government Relations

RE: S-1793 / (Sarlo / Girgenti) / A-832 (Chivukula / Schaer / Love)

DATE: January 11, 2010

The Chamber of Commerce Southern New Jersey strongly supports S-1793 (Sarlo, Girgenti) / A-832 (Chivukula, Schaer, Love), which would expand the scope of the New Jersey Regulatory Flexibility Act dealing with the impact of rules on small businesses.

The Chamber supports requiring state agencies to use the consolidation or simplification of compliance or reporting as an approach to minimize the rule’s impact on small businesses. By giving small businesses the authority to file a petition with state agencies objecting to all or part of a regulation, the true impact of new regulations can be assessed more thoroughly and accurately. This appeal process gives small businesses a voice concerning how new rules and regulations financially impact their business and make everyday business operations more difficult.

In the past, our Chamber has testified to the challenges of owning a small business and operating it profitably. The Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council’s 2009 Annual Survival Guide ranked New Jersey last of the fifty states; that is, our state has the least friendly environment for entrepreneurship. In fact, the Council’s 2009 Business Tax Index ranked New Jersey last of the fifty states in terms of the cost that our tax system places on entrepreneurs and small businesses. These two studies reflect the cost of doing business and other challenges to operating a profitable small business in New Jersey.

With small business struggling to survive in this economy, it is imperative that state agencies explore alternative regulatory approaches in order to minimize the economic impact of rules and regulations on small businesses, while still satisfying the regulatory objective.

We urge you to vote yes on S-1793 (Sarlo, Girgenti) / A-832 (Chivukula, Schaer, Love).