SMALL BUSINESS
Maine Gov. John Baldacci has signed into law small business regulatory flexibility provisions. The law directs regulating agencies to consider the economic impact of proposed regulations on small businesses in the state and to describe less burdensome alternatives that accomplish the agency’s goal. The law also requires agencies to make this information available for public review before the public hearing on a regulation. If the economic analysis is not conducted, the rule may not go into effect. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy statistics for 2005, 97.5% of Maine businesses were small businesses that employed 61.2% of the state’s private work force. More information is available at the Office of Advocacy Web site at www.sba.gov/advo.