Bills To Reform Regulations Signed
Seeking to make the city more friendly to small businesses, Mayor Michael Bloomberg signed last Tuesday, Apr. 23, four bills aimed at reducing regulations and educating owners and employers on city services and rules.
Bloomberg stated in a press release that the four bills “ease regulatory burdens on the city’s small businesses and represent recommendations of the city’s Regulatory Review Panel established by our administration and the City Council to scrutinize city regulations and how they are developed.” The panel also offered its own recommendations on eliminating “unnecessary obstacles that hinder business growth” and “enhancing public participation in rulemaking,” the mayor added.
The first bill Bloomberg signed was Intro. No. 949-A, which mandates that city agencies launch a review of the many violations issued “to determine if opportunities exist for business owners to correct violations before they are assessed.”
Among the agencies required to conduct the review are the Departments of Buildings, Consumer Affairs, Health and Mental Hygiene, Environmental Protection, Sanitation and Transportation, as well as the Fire Department.
The legislation mandates that each agency provide a report to the mayor and City Council speaker on the review’s findings with 120 days.
Bloomberg also penned his signature to Intro. No. 941-A, which tasks the Mayor’s Office of Operations with formulating “a standardized customer service training curriculum” which each city agency will use in training its various inspectors. The third bill signed by the mayor, Intro. No. 942-A, also requires that each city agency appoint a liaison advising the communities it regulates.
Finally, the mayor signed Intro. No. 956, which entitles every business owner and manager to receive a copy of the city’s “Business Owner’s Bill of Rights,” an advisory of what proprietors can expect when a city inspector comes to check their business for potential violations and how to protest findings.
All four bills were passed by the City Council unanimously on Apr. 9.
