Daley Looking for Relief for Small Businesses

District 38 Sen. Ted Daley isn't wasting any time this legislative session.

In the opening week of the 2012 legislative session, the freshman legislator from Eagan authored SF 1614, a new bill aimed designed to relieve the bureacratic burden on small businesses in the state.

Called the "Small Business Regulatory Relief Act", the bill—if approved—would create a Smaill Business Regulatory Review Board in the state legislature tasked with reviewing proposed rules or revisions to determine the impact of legislation on small businesses statewide. The board would also have the power to revisit existing legislation and recommend changes to those laws to make them more less burdensome for businesses.

The proposed board would consist of 16 members, drawn from various state departments, the public, business owners and the legislature. If approved, the board would begin meeting no later than Dec. 1, 2012.

Under Daley's proposed bill, state agencies would also be required to conduct an annual review of their rules and consider ways to reduce their impact on small businesses in the state.

Daley's bill dovetails with Reform 2.0—a series of proposals released last week by Republican legislators, who say they want to bolster the state economy, improve the education and health care systems, and streamline the state goverment.

As part of the initiative, Republican legislators are also pushing for a moratorium on new laws affecting businesses, the gradual elimination of business property taxes and a reduction in the rule-making authority of state agencies.

"The housing bubble and the subsequent decline really did a number on our economy, and rebuilding it and putting people back to work has to be the focus of what we’re doing in St. Paul," Daley said in an interview prior to the start of the legislative session. "Private sector business, that’s where we need to focus, not additional government jobs."