BILL REQ. #:  H-4021.1 

Read first time 01/17/2006.   Referred to Committee on State Government Operations & Accountability.

     AN ACT Relating to small business economic impact statements; and amending RCW 19.85.040.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1   RCW 19.85.040 and 1995 c 403 s 403 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) A small business economic impact statement must include a brief description of the reporting, recordkeeping, and other compliance requirements of the proposed rule, and the kinds of professional services that a small business is likely to need in order to comply with such requirements. It shall analyze the costs of compliance for businesses required to comply with the proposed rule adopted pursuant to RCW 34.05.320, including costs of equipment, supplies, labor, and increased administrative costs. It shall consider, based on input received, whether compliance with the rule will cause businesses to lose sales or revenue. To determine whether the proposed rule will have a disproportionate impact on small businesses, the impact statement must compare the cost of compliance for small business with the cost of compliance for the ten percent of businesses that are the largest businesses required to comply with the proposed rules using one or more of the following as a basis for comparing costs:
     (a) Cost per employee;
     (b) Cost per hour of labor; or
     (c) Cost per one hundred dollars of sales.
     (2) A small business economic impact statement must also include:
     (a) A statement of the steps taken by the agency to reduce the costs of the rule on small businesses as required by RCW 19.85.030(((3))) (2), or reasonable justification for not doing so, addressing the options listed in RCW 19.85.030(((3))) (2);
     (b) A description of how the agency will involve small businesses in the development of the rule; ((and))
     (c) A list of industries that will be required to comply with the rule. However, this subsection (2)(c) shall not be construed to preclude application of the rule to any business or industry to which it would otherwise apply; and
     (d) The number of jobs that will be created or lost as the result of compliance with the proposed rule.
     (3) To obtain information for purposes of this section, an agency may survey a representative sample of affected businesses or trade associations and should, whenever possible, appoint a committee under RCW 34.05.310(2) to assist in the accurate assessment of the costs of a proposed rule, and the means to reduce the costs imposed on small business.