§ 42-35.1-1 - Legislative findings.
SECTION 42-35.1-1
§ 42-35.1-1 Legislative findings. –The general assembly finds and declares that:
(1) A vibrant and growing small business sector is criticalto creating jobs in a dynamic economy;
(2) Small businesses bear a disproportionate share ofregulatory costs and burdens;
(3) Fundamental changes that are needed in the regulatory andenforcement culture of state agencies to make them more responsive to smallbusiness can be made without compromising the statutory missions of theagencies;
(4) When adopting regulations to protect the health, safety,and economic welfare of Rhode Island state agencies should seek to achievestatutory goals as effectively and efficiently as possible without imposingunnecessary burdens on small employers;
(5) Uniform regulatory and reporting requirements can imposeunnecessary and disproportionately burdensome demands including legal,accounting and consulting costs upon small businesses with limited resources;
(6) The failure to recognize differences in the scale andresources of regulated businesses can adversely affect competition in themarketplace, discourage innovation, and restrict improvements in productivity;
(7) Unnecessary regulations create entry barriers in manyindustries and discourage potential entrepreneurs from introducing beneficialproducts and processes;
(8) The practice of treating all regulated businesses asequivalent may lead to inefficient use of regulatory agency resources,enforcement problems, and in some cases, to actions inconsistent with thelegislative intent of health, safety, environmental, and economic welfarelegislation;
(9) Alternative regulatory approaches which do not conflictwith the stated objective of applicable statutes may be available to minimizethe significant economic impact of rules on small businesses;
(10) The process by which state regulations are developed andadopted should be reformed to require agencies to solicit the ideas andcomments of small businesses, to examine the impact of proposed and existingrules on such businesses, and to review the continued need for existing rules.