SENATE ECONOMIC GROWTH COMMITTEE
STATEMENT TO
SENATE, No. 2345
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
DATED: MAY 14, 2018
The Senate Economic Growth Committee reports favorably Senate Bill No. 2345.
As reported, this bill revises the “New Jersey Regulatory Flexibility Act” in order to include under the law small businesses that employ fewer than 100 full-time employees or having gross annual sales of less than $6 million.
The bill requires an agency to use, when developing rules, the consolidation or simplification of a compliance or reporting requirement for small businesses as an approach to minimize the rule’s impact on small businesses, so long as the public health, safety, or general public welfare is not endangered.
Under the bill, an agency seeking to continue an expiring rule by duly proposing for re-adoption the rule, with amendment, prior to its expiration, is to consider a series of factors, as part of the regulatory flexibility analysis, which are set forth in the bill. This review is to be conducted by the agency at the time a rule is proposed for re-adoption (which is generally every seven years), to ensure that the rule continues to have a minimal impact on small businesses.
The bill establishes a process by which a small business that is adversely affected economically or aggrieved by final rule-making action may file a petition with the agency objecting to all or a part of a rule subject to regulatory flexibility analysis. For cases in which the agency rejects the petition, the process addresses concerns about frivolous appeals without creating unprecedented procedures with respect to the courts. Specifically, the bill: (1) establishes a petition process as a prerequisite for a court appeal; (2) requires the appeal petition to be filed within 90 days after final rule-making action; (3) creates an optional summary disposition process based on affidavits; (4) sets sanctions for frivolous appeals; and (5) places a restriction on appeals based on compliance with the regulatory flexibility process.