The so-called Small Business Regulatory Flexibility Act, expected to be signed into law by Gov. Mark Sanford today, establishes a permanent 11-person committee to examine the impact of all new and existing regulations on small businesses statewide.

"This bill is all about making life easier for our state's small businesses," said Will Folks, a spokesman for Sanford. "It's a big step forward in creating jobs and stimulating economic growth here in South Carolina."

Under the new law, any state lawmaker or agency wishing to propose a regulation to the General Assembly must first submit their plans to the not-yet-formed Regulatory Review Committee.

The state-appointed panel will then examine the proposal and determine whether it poses a significant cost to small businesses.

Hunter Howard, president of the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, said the act will promote job and wage growth in the state by helping small businesses reduce their regulatory overhead and focus on expansion.

"Most of the jobs in South Carolina are created and sustained by small businesses, and this act makes the operating environment to them more friendly," he said.

Other advocates agreed, adding that regulatory costs are a bigger burden to small businesses because they lack the legal expertise and compliance officers that negotiate matters for their larger counterparts.

"Our members are concerned about how regulations affect their ability to succeed," said Michael Fields, South Carolina director for the National Federation of Independent businesses, an advocacy group for small businesses that represents 5,000 firms statewide.

"A lot of times small businesses don't even find out about a particular regulation until they're out of compliance with it, and by that time it's too late," he said.

While the committee will not be able to strike down regulations, it will be able to require state agencies to review them to see whether they may be amended on behalf of small businesses.

Without the review, proposed regulations will not be able to go before the General Assembly.

Recommended changes could include exempting small businesses from certain requirements, streamlining the compliance process to reduce paperwork, or simplifying reporting requirements.

The bill would require state agencies to review existing regulations five years after they are passed to determine whether they could be updated or streamlined.

"The biggest complaint we hear is of the one-size-fits-all approach to regulating," Fields said. "A lot of small business owners are saying, 'What's good for big business is not necessarily good for me.'"

Nine other states have enacted similar regulatory flexibility laws in the past two years. Georgia and North Carolina currently have flexibility bills pending in their Legislatures.

"I'm thrilled about it," said Evelyn Reis Perry, who with her husband owns Carolina Sound Communications in Charleston, an independent Muzak franchise with 19 employees.

"I think this will help make legislators and state agen- cies think twice about how regu-lations might affect us when they're putting them together," she said.

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