Many small businesses are confused about certain regulatory regulations they need to comply with when they are opening up. The average amount of money small businesses spend in order to stay compliant with regulations in the first year of operation is roughly $83,000. Also on average, many businesses spend an estimate $12,000 a year in regulatory costs whether they be directly or indirect. Those include workplace upgrades, daily work routine changes and attorney fees, as well as time taken away from other business tasks to understand regulations and meet with specialists. A new bill has now been introduced to the New York State Assembly seeks to assist the over 380,000 small businesses in New York State by providing relief to small businesses from regulatory fines for first-time offenses. A business will still be fined and not exempt if the offense impacts health, public safety, or the environment.
The bill introduced by Assemblyman John T. McDonald can be read here in full. Its goal according to McDonald is “to find a meaningful way to help reduce the burden on small businesses and to hopefully foster a more productive relationship between the State and business owners.”
Mr. McDonald goes on to say:
“As a small business owner, I can tell you first-hand that between local, county, state and federal entities as well as the day-to-day happenings in a business, it is not easy at times to keep up with all of the rules and regulations, especially the number of new ones that change procedures and are issued on a regular basis. I have found at times that even in my role in government where I have a better vantage point than most, all of the new regulations are difficult to track and keep up with. It is virtually impossible to keep track of all regulatory changes that occur within the state of New York and I am someone who lives and breathes it every day. It is not unreasonable to assume that a business owner just starting out can make a good faith effort to stay up to date on regulatory changes but make an honest mistake or have a new guideline escape his or her attention while keeping up with the demands of running a business. This is the reasoning behind introducing this legislation.”
There is definitely truth to his statements and this can help businesses navigate the rough terrain of opening up a small business and not having to worry about making mistakes that can potentially close them down before they are able to make a name for themselves. There is tremendous support for this bill from the business community as well. The Business Council of New York State has heavily supported the bill. Lev Ginsburg, Director of Government Affairs for the Business Council intimated:
“In our heavily regulated state, it is crucial that small businesses be given the ability and knowledge necessary to comply completely with all government regulations and that the regulatory scheme of the state not simply act as a “gotcha” regime. This legislation would not only ensure reasonable regulatory enforcement practices but would also guarantee that businesses be provided with materials necessary to comply with all regulations into the future.” According to CNBC, New York is currently ranked 29th when comparing the top business states across the country, according to a 2016 survey. Hopefully this will assist New York achieve a higher ranking in the future.
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