A 9004: Establishes the small business working group to identify the twenty-five provisions of law or rules that are most frequently enforced through issuance of notices of violation and most frequently issued to small businesses; requires such working group to evaluate such provisions of law or rules to determine whether changes should be made to such provisions.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 9004 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN ASSEMBLY August 13, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. BORES -- read once and referred to the Committee on Small Business AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to establishing the small business working group The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "small 2 business forward act". 3 § 2. The executive law is amended by adding a new section 384 to read 4 as follows: 5 § 384. Small business working group. 1. There is hereby created in the 6 executive department, no later than six months after the effective date 7 of this section, a small business working group consisting of: 8 (a) the director of the division of building standards and codes, or 9 such director's designee; 10 (b) the director of the division of licensing services, or such direc- 11 tor's designee; 12 (c) the commissioner of health, or such commissioner's designee; 13 (d) the commissioner of the department of environmental conservation, 14 or such commissioner's designee; 15 (e) the commissioner of the department of agriculture and markets, or 16 such commissioner's designee; 17 (f) the heads of such other departments or divisions within the execu- 18 tive department and such other state agencies as shall be designated by 19 the governor, or their designees, including, when appropriate, such 20 departments, divisions or agencies with subject matter expertise in 21 public health, inspections, or small businesses; 22 (g) two members appointed by the governor upon the recommendation of 23 the temporary president of the senate; 24 (h) two members appointed by the governor upon the recommendation of 25 speaker of the assembly; EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD13533-02-5 
 A. 9004 2 1 (i) one member appointed by the governor upon the recommendation of 2 the minority leader of the senate; and 3 (j) one member appointed by the governor upon the recommendation of 4 the minority leader of the assembly. 5 2. The department shall provide necessary technical and staff assist- 6 ance to the working group. Any department, division, board, bureau, 7 commission, authority or agency of the state, as such entity shall 8 determine appropriate, is authorized to provide such information, coop- 9 eration, or assistance as may be requested by the working group to carry 10 out the purposes of this section. 11 3. The president of the empire state development corporation shall 12 serve, ex officio, as the chair of the working group, and the governor 13 shall designate the vice chair of the working group. In appointing 14 members of the working group, appointing authorities shall ensure that 15 such members, as a group, represent diverse public health and business 16 perspectives relevant to the duties of the working group. The members of 17 the working group, except those who serve ex officio, shall be allowed 18 their actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their 19 duties under this article but shall receive no additional compensation 20 for services rendered pursuant to this article. 21 4. The working group shall have the following powers and responsibil- 22 ities: 23 (a) to identify the twenty-five provisions of law or rules that are 24 most frequently enforced through the issuance of notices of violation by 25 or on behalf of each inspection office and agency, and, to the extent 26 practicable, identify those violations that are most frequently issued 27 to small businesses; 28 (b) to evaluate each provision of law or rule identified pursuant to 29 paragraph (a) of this subdivision and determine whether: 30 (i) such provision is necessary to promote an important public 31 purpose, and, if not, assess whether such provision should be amended or 32 repealed to better effectuate the public purpose at issue; 33 (ii) civil penalties established to enforce such provision are in an 34 amount appropriate to achieve the public purpose sought to be achieved 35 by the provision or, whether such civil penalties should be reduced; and 36 (iii) any such provision establishing such civil penalties requires a 37 warning or cure period for persons who violate such provision for the 38 first time, or whether rules should be adopted implementing such a warn- 39 ing or cure period. 40 (c) to specify whether legislation, rulemaking, or any other adminis- 41 trative reform, is recommended for each provision of law or rule identi- 42 fied pursuant to paragraph (a) of this subdivision and to seek input 43 from each inspection office or agency which enforces such provision; 44 (d) to explain the reason for each provision of law or rule identified 45 pursuant to paragraph (a) of this subdivision for which such the working 46 group determines that neither legislation, rulemaking, nor any other 47 administrative reform is recommended pursuant to paragraph (c) of this 48 subdivision, including but not limited to, specifying the safety or 49 health risks that could ensue from any change to such provision; 50 (e) to the extent practicable, to receive and respond to inquiries, 51 including data requests, and recommendations; and 52 (f) to report its findings and recommendations to the governor, the 53 temporary president of the senate and the speaker of the assembly, the 54 minority leader of the senate, and the minority leader of the assembly. 55 The working group may at any time make recommendations to an agency 
 A. 9004 3 1 based upon the working group's review of such agency's rulemaking proc- 2 ess, or any of such agency's proposed, revised or adopted rules. 3 5. If any appointments to the working group are not made within six 4 months of the effective date of this section, then the working group may 5 proceed to meet and fulfill its responsibilities, pursuant to subdivi- 6 sion four of this section without such appointees. 7 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.