Amend CSHB 3430 (committee printing) by adding the following
appropriately numbered SECTIONS to read as follows and renumbering
subsequent SECTIONS appropriately:
SECTION __. Subdivisions (2) and (3), Section 2006.001,
Government Code, are amended to read as follows:
(2) "Small business" means a legal entity, including a
corporation, partnership, or sole proprietorship, that:
(A) is formed for the purpose of making a profit;
(B) is independently owned and operated; and
(C) has fewer than 100 employees or less than $6
[$1] million in annual gross receipts.
(3) "State agency" means a department, board, bureau,
commission, division, office, council, or other agency of the state
and includes an officer who is authorized by law to determine
contested cases.
SECTION ___. Section 2006.002, Government Code, is amended
by amending Subsections (c) and (d) and adding Subsections (c-1)
and (g) to read as follows:
(c) Before adopting a rule that may [would] have an adverse
economic effect on small businesses, a state agency shall prepare:
(1) an economic impact statement that estimates the
number of small businesses subject to the proposed rule, projects
the economic impact of the rule on small businesses, and describes
alternative methods of achieving the purpose of the proposed rule;
and
(2) a regulatory flexibility analysis that includes
the agency's consideration of alternative methods of achieving the
purpose of the proposed rule.
(c-1) The analysis under Subsection (c) shall consider, if
consistent with the health, safety, and environmental and economic
welfare of the state, using regulatory methods that will accomplish
the objectives of applicable rules while minimizing adverse impacts
on small businesses. The state agency must include in the analysis
several proposed methods of reducing the adverse impact of a
proposed rule on a small business [a statement of the effect of the
rule on small businesses. The statement must include:
[(1) an analysis of the cost of compliance with the
rule for small businesses; and
[(2) a comparison of the cost of compliance for small
businesses with the cost of compliance for the largest businesses
affected by the rule, using at least one of the following standards:
[(A) cost for each employee;
[(B) cost for each hour of labor; or
[(C) cost for each $100 of sales].
(d) The agency shall include the economic impact statement
and regulatory flexibility analysis [statement of effect] as part
of the notice of the proposed rule that the agency files with the
secretary of state for publication in the Texas Register and shall
provide copies to the standing committee of each house of the
legislature that is charged with reviewing the proposed rule.
(g) The attorney general, in consultation with the
comptroller, shall prepare guidelines to assist a state agency:
(1) in determining a proposed rule's potential adverse
economic effects on small businesses; and
(2) in identifying and evaluating alternative methods
of achieving the purpose of a proposed rule.
SECTION __. Section 2006.002, Government Code, as amended
by this Act, applies only to a rule that is adopted on or after
January 1, 2008. A rule adopted before that date is governed by the
law in effect when the rule was adopted, and the former law is
continued in effect for that purpose.