New York SBDC Research Network

The Empire Center for Public Policy is an independent, non-partisan think tank based in Albany, NY. Their project, De/RegulateNY exists to improve policies in NYS to promote small businesses. De/RegulateNY gave small business owners a chance to nominate state laws that owners believe hinder the progress of new businesses. This February, the winners were announced and in particular, two votes went to a law that requires new LLCs to buy ads in local papers to announce their organization. This rule ignores progress that has been made in business communication and burdens the new business owner with additional expense. You can read more about the award and the project  here .

The SBA Office of Advocacy released its annual report, Report on the Regulatory Flexibility Act, FY 2016 . The report analyzes federal agency compliance with the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), as well as with provisions of the Small Business JOBS Act of 2010 and Executive Order 13272, “Proper Consideration of Small Entities in Federal Rulemaking.” The RFA is Advocacy’s most effective tool for bringing small business concerns into the regulatory process. In FY 2016, Advocacy’s intervention on behalf of small business in federal rulemaking resulted in foregone regulatory cost savings of almost $1.4 billion. These cost savings came from Advocacy’s work on seven rules that were made final in FY 2016. These and other regulatory successes stem from small business involvement in rulemaking made possible by the RFA. Advocacy facilitated this during FY 2016 through 27 small business roundtables, 20 public comment letters, working closely with agencies on small business concerns, and ongo...

Soon, virtual currency businesses will have to answer to BitLicense. It’s an apt choice of name for a regulatory framework that will govern an industry whose players have included BitPay, BitGo, BitAccess, BitPagos, BitInstant, and BitWall . Companies like those, and others in the bitcoin community (and beyond bitcoin), anxiously await the final version of the policy that Benjamin Lawsky, superintendent of the New York Department of Financial Services, has spent nearly a year revising. The policy will require digital currency companies to obtain a license in order to transmit money on behalf of customers. (Former BitInstant CEO Charlie Shrem went to prison last month for operating an unlicensed money-transmitting service, among other charges.) New York will be the first state to roll out such a policy, but broad bitcoin regulation has a long way to go in the U.S., where 48 different states have their own set of money-transmitting regulations.

the Office of Advocacy released the Report on the Regulatory Flexibility Act FY 2014. The report is a requirement of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), which directs the Chief Counsel for Advocacy to monitor federal agency compliance with the RFA and report on it at least annually. This year’s report finds that the Office of Advocacy’s efforts at ensuring RFA compliance helped save small entities at least $4.8 billion in first-year regulatory costs in FY 2014, while ensuring that agencies were able to meet their regulatory goals. The report and research summary are available HERE on Advocacy’s webpage .

The popular belief is that environmental regulation must reduce employment, since such regulations are expected to increase production costs, which would raise prices and thus reduce demand for output, at least in a competitive market. Although this effect might seem obvious, a careful microeconomic analysis shows that it is not guaranteed. Even if environmental regulation reduces output in the regulated industry, abating pollution could require additional labor (e.g. to monitor the abatement capital and meet EPA reporting requirements). It is also possible for pollution abatement technologies to be labor enhancing. In this paper the writers analyze how a particular EPA regulation, the so-called “Cluster Rule” (CR) imposed on the pulp and paper industry in 2001, affected employment in that sector. Using establishment level data from the Census of Manufacturers and Annual Survey of Manufacturers at the U.S. Census Bureau from 1992-2007 they find evidence of small employment declines ...

Someone posted this question: "I have a client who has a business with 24 employees. She wants some employees to work more than 40 hours, but can't afford to pay overtime wages. Does anyone have experience with labor laws for these types of businesses? Is she right that she can't have people work more than 40 hours? Any insight or direction you have would be welcome." Here are a couple sources of information- Overtime pay An employer who requires or permits an employee to work overtime is generally required to pay the employee premium pay for such overtime work. Employees covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) must receive overtime pay for hours worked in excess of 40 in a workweek of at least one and one-half times their regular rates of pay. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) , which prescribes standards for the basic minimum wage and overtime pay, affects most private and public employment. Further - Compliance Employees of firms which are not...

The purpose of the research study on states’ regulatory flexibility activity was to evaluate to what extent states went to mitigate the impact of state regulations on small businesses. The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) at the federal level requires agencies to minimize the impact of their regulations on small entities without compromising their regulatory objectives. States versions of the RFA, the research indicates, are/have been following different paths to the requirements and are having mixed results. Get the full report or summary . Should you need further information, please feel free to contact Radwan Saade at (202) 205-6533 or advocacy@sba.gov.

The November-December issue of The Small Business Advocate reflects on many of the Office of Advocacy’s 2012 activities and scans the 2013 horizon. It includes reports on the office’s fall regulatory activities, new research on small business retirement planning, innovation events in Region III, and a tip of the hat to outgoing members of Congress, Senator Olympia Snowe, and Rep. Donald Manzullo. In This Issue: 2012 Accomplishments, 2013 Horizons Fall Regulatory Roundup Mortgage Rules Patent Revisions Critical Habitat Analyses Basel III Standards Small Business Set-Asides Reports Examine Small Business Retirement Preparation

From starting and growing a business to managing operations day-to-day, one thing is certain in business – dealing with laws and regulations. Whether you are hiring your first employee, formalizing your business structure, or applying for a license, you’ll encounter a hairball of ever-changing federal, state and local rules and regulations. To help business owners unravel the hairball and get answers, SBA.gov offers a variety of helpful tools and resources.

And the SBDC was cited: Harry C. Alford's presentation to the Signage Foundation Inc.; Mr. Alford is the President and CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce In these turbulent economic times, small businesses rely on effective signage to help ensure the continued viability of their companies. While regulations are a necessary part of a complex society, regulatory flexibility is needed to ensure that businesses have the ability to attract new customers and bring back existing ones. Every law and regulation should be evaluated against its impact on jobs. On premise signs[are particularly important to black-owned business, especially those located in economically disadvantaged areas. Therefore, policymakers should develop and implement zoning laws and regulations for signs in a commonsense, business-friendly manner. More HERE NOTE that 10 of the 57 footnotes, starting with #13, are to New York State Small Business Development Center, What’s Your Signage? How On-Premise...

The Cost of Government Regulation & How Business Strategy Can Be Used to Mitigate Its Impact ...with all things in life and business, there are issues, such as government regulation (and taxes), that we cannot control, only react to. So we can use business strategy to mitigate the cost of government regulation by first understanding its aspects, and then developing a strategy or strategies for dealing with it, always with the focus of moving ahead, pushing forward and growing.

From SBA Office of Advocacy[PDF] . "The annual cost of federal regulations in the United States increased to more than $1.75 trillion in 2008. Had every U.S. household paid an equal share of the federal regulatory burden, each would have owed $15,586 in 2008." Check especially the chart on PDF page 60.

When searching to rules, regulations, permits, and licensing information, the first place to look is New York State's Online Permit Assistance and Licensing website . Sometimes, the helpful information provided will tell the searcher to look up legislation that is available through Laws of New York . If no information in provided in OPAL, sometimes searching Laws of New York will yield results previously undiscovered. Ultimately, it is always a good idea to search both sites for the most comprehensive results.

I've received a couple of requests in the last month that were looking for a listing of the current issues that concern small business owners. These are typically the legislative agenda items for such groups as the National Federation of Independent Businesses or the National Association of Women Business Owners. Related to those is the current " Top 10 List of Current Rules for Review and Reform ," published each March by SBA's Office of Advocacy . According to their most recent issue of The Small Business Advocate , the list was drawn from over 80 rules nominated by small business owners as those whose reform or removal would be most beneficial. As you'll see, all of these items concern current requirements as mandated by Federal agencies. Some are very industry-specific (e.g., EPA should revise outdated or inaccurate testing requirements for dry cleaners), while others have a much broader (and larger) target audience (such as the request that the IRS simplif...