Small Business Regulatory Reform

The bill enacts the 'Regulatory Reform Act of 2018'. Section 2 of the bill makes legislative declarations about the importance of businesses with 100 or fewer employees to the Colorado economy and the difficulty these types of businesses have in complying with new administrative rules that are not known or understood by these businesses.

Section 3 defines 'new rule' as any regulatory requirement in existence for less than one year prior to its enforcement by a state agency, and 'minor violation' as any violation of a new rule by a business with 100 or fewer employees where the violation is minor in nature, involving record-keeping or other issues that do not affect the safety of the public. Section 3 provides exceptions from the definition of 'minor violation' for certain types of rules.

For the first minor violation of a new rule by a business of 100 or fewer employees, section 4 requires a state agency to issue a written warning and engage the business in educational outreach as to the methods of complying with the new rule. Section 3 requires state agencies to make information on new rules available and allows this information to be made available in electronic form.
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)