NEWSRELEASE
For Release: March 2, 2007
Contact: Eric Munson, (501) 324-7379 x249
eric.munson@sba.gov
SBA Number: 07-07 ADVO
Press Kit
Arkansas Law Will Help Small Business
Gives Small Business A Voice In The State Regulatory Process
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Arkansas’ more than 238,000 small businesses will experience a friendlier regulatory environment, thanks to a new law signed into law by Governor Mike Beebe. The new law will create a friendlier regulatory environment for small businesses and encourage entrepreneurial success.
“Governor Beebe and the Arkansas legislature have taken a good step toward minimizing the regulatory burden on the state’s small businesses,” said Thomas M. Sullivan, Chief Counsel for Advocacy. “This law requires agencies to consider the unique needs of small business, which will help them to survive in a competitive marketplace. Without the support of Governor Beebe, and the hard work of the bill’s sponsors, Senator Denny Altes (R-Fort Smith) and Representative James Norton (R-Harrison), it never would have happened,” he said.
Senate Bill 55 requires state agencies to analyze the economic impact of a proposed rule on small businesses and to consider less burdensome alternatives that will accomplish the regulatory goal.
By listening to small business, state agencies can ensure that small business resources spent on overly burdensome new regulations are instead available for hiring employees and making investments. At the same time, agencies still meet their regulatory goals, such as higher environmental quality, greater travel safety, better workplace conditions, and increased family financial security.
SB 55, which builds on an Executive Order signed by former Governor Mike Huckabee, received support from small business stakeholders across the state. “Small employers are the backbone of our state’s economy and should not have to shoulder disproportionate regulatory costs and burdens. Small business needs relief and they have received it,” said Eric Munson, Advocacy Regional Advocate for Arkansas.
The Office of Advocacy, the “small business watchdog” of the federal government, examines the role and status of small business in the economy and independently represents the views of small business to federal agencies, Congress, and the President. It is the source for small business statistics presented in user-friendly formats, and it funds research into small business issues.
For more information, visit the Small Business Friendly Regulation, Model Legislation for States section of the Office of Advocacy website at
www.sba.gov/advo/laws/law_modeleg.html.###
The Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is an independent voice for small business within the federal government. The presidentially appointed Chief Counsel for Advocacy advances the views, concerns, and interests of small business before Congress, the White House, federal agencies, federal courts, and state policy makers. For more information, visit
www.sba.gov/advo, or call (202) 205-6533.