HBA-TYH C.S.H.B. 2022 76(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 2022 By: Garcia State Affairs 4/28/1999 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE In the comptroller's 1998 Texas Performance Review (TPR), small businesses employing four or fewer workers were reported to account for 54 percent of all establishments in Texas. Another 20 percent of businesses employ five to nine workers, 12 percent employ 10 to 19 workers, nine percent of businesses in Texas have 20 to 49 employees, and three percent employ 50 to 99 persons. Only two percent of all Texas businesses employ 100 or more persons. Small businesses account for about 40 percent of all private-sector non-farm jobs. In focus groups conducted by TPR with businesses throughout the state, participants expressed a desire for a single place to obtain basic registration requirements and information, both state and federal, on any licensing a new business may need. New business owners may not always know which agencies have regulatory authority over their operation. There is currently no single contact that has access to all the pertinent information. The Texas Department of Economic Development (department) currently has an Office of Small Business Assistance (office) that provides information to businesses but it only provides state permit information. Providing this referral service has taken up much time and has left other office functions unimplemented. C.S.H.B. 2022 requires the office to be headed by a small business advocate appointed by the governor, requires the office to develop a "one-stop" approach for all small business needs, and includes the governing board of the department in the list of entities that the department is required to turn a biennial report to. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Sections 481.0068(a), (b), and (e), Government Code, as follows: (a) Requires the Office of Small Business Assistance (office) to be headed by a small business advocate (advocate) appointed by the governor, rather than by a director. Provides that person must have demonstrated a strong commitment to small business efforts to be eligible to serve as advocate. Provides that the advocate serves at the will of the governor. (b) Requires the office to develop a "one-stop" approach for all small business needs. Makes a conforming change. (e) Includes the governing board of the Texas Department of Economic Development (department) in the list of entities to which the department is required to submit a biennial report. SECTION 2. Requires the governor, not later than January 1, 2000, to appoint a small business advocate as required by Section 772.010, Government Code, as added by this Act. SECTION 3. Effective date: September 1, 1999. SECTION 4. Emergency clause. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE The substitute modifies the original bill by changing the caption form "relating to the creation of the small business advocacy office within the governor's office" to "relating to appointment of a small business advocate to head the Office of Small Business Assistance." The substitute modifies the original bill by deleting SECTION 1 of the original which added Section 772.010 to Chapter 772, Government Code, to establish the Small Business Advocacy Office requiring the office to help small businesses cut through red tape, provide answers and advice on dealing with state agencies, and work with legislators to improve Texas' small business climate. The substitute modifies the original bill by redesignating SECTIONS 2-5 of the original to SECTIONS 1-4, respectively. The substitute modifies the original bill in SECTION 1, as follows: SECTION 1. Amends Section 481.0068(a), (b), and (e), Government Code, as follows: (a) Requires the Office of Small Business Assistance (office) to be headed by a small business advocate appointed by the governor, rather than by a director. Provides that person must have demonstrated a strong commitment to small business efforts to be eligible to serve as advocate. Provides that the advocate serves at the will of the governor. The original bill made no changes to this subsection. (b) Requires the office to develop a "one-stop" approach for all small business needs, in addition to its already enumerated duties. Makes a conforming change. The original bill deleted "small and" when making references to historically underutilized businesses (HUBs), deleted text regarding requirements in determining and reducing the impact that rules have on small businesses, and deleted small business development centers as an available resource within the state to coordinate the provision of management and technical assistance to HUBs. These changes in the original bill made a distinction between small businesses and HUBs and resources available to each. (e) Includes the governing board of the Texas Department of Economic Development (department) in the list of entities to which the department is required to submit a biennial report. The original bill made no changes to this subsection. The substitute modifies the original bill in SECTION 2 by requiring the governor, as soon as possible after the effective date of this Act, to appoint a small business advocate as required by Section 481.0068, Government Code, as amended by this Act. The original bill required the governor to appoint a chief small business advocate as required by Section 772.010, Government Code, as added by this Act, not later than January 1, 2000.