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Bill > H3021


SC H3021

SC H3021
Small Business Regulatory Freedom Act


summary

Introduced
01/14/2025
In Committee
03/11/2025
Crossed Over
03/06/2025
Passed
Dead

Introduced Session

126th General Assembly

Bill Summary

Amend The South Carolina Code Of Laws By Enacting The "small Business Regulatory Freedom Act" By Adding Section 1-23-285 So As To Provide The Small Business Regulatory Review Committee Shall Conduct An Initial Review Of Regulations Pending Reauthorization And Make Recommendations To The General Assembly For Retaining Or Removing Regulations, To Provide It Is The Duty Of The Committee When Reviewing Regulations To Reduce The Overall Regulatory Burden On Businesses By Reducing The Number Of Regulatory Requirements By Twenty-five Percent, And To Provide The Committee May Request Any Necessary Information From State Agencies And To Require The Compliance Of Agencies With These Requests, Among Other Things; By Amending Section 1-23-110, Relating To The Process For Promulgating Regulations Under The Administrative Procedures Act So As To Provide Agencies May Not Promulgate Regulations Absent Express Statutory Authority And Citation To The Specific Statutory Authority, To Provide For Every Regulation An Agency Proposes, It Must Identify And Propose Two Of Its Regulations To Remove, To Provide Persons Aggrieved By A Regulation May Challenge The Validity Of The Regulation In A Court Of Competent Jurisdiction, And To Provide Courts May Declare Regulations Invalid Upon Finding An Absence Of Express Statutory Authority To Promulgate; By Amending Section 1-23-115, Relating To Assessment Reports For Regulations Submitted For Promulgation, So As To Provide All Regulations Submitted For Promulgation Must Include Assessment Reports, To Allow Longer Review Periods In Certain Circumstances, To Provide Discount Rates Must Be Justified If Applied In An Analysis Report, To Provide Promulgating Agencies Must Conduct Retrospective Assessment Reports In Certain Circumstances, To Provide Assessment Contents Must Be Made Publicly Available In A Certain Manner, To Provide Certain Standardized Analytic Methods And Metrics Must Be Applied To All Regulations, To Require Retrospective Assessment Reports Be Conducted When Regulations Are Reviewed For Renewal, Among Other Things; By Amending Section 1-23-120, Relating To Documents Required To Be Filed To Initiate The Review Process For A Regulation, So As To Require The Documents Include An Automatic Expiration Date, And To Provide For The Automatic Expiration And Periodic Review Of Regulations; And By Amending Section 1-23-380, Relating To Judicial Review Upon Exhaustion Of Administrative Remedies, So As To Provide Requirements For Judicial Review Of Agency Interpretations Of Regulations.

AI Summary

This bill, titled the "Small Business Regulatory Freedom Act," aims to reduce the regulatory burden on businesses in South Carolina by implementing several key changes to the state's administrative procedures. It establishes a Small Business Regulatory Review Committee responsible for reviewing regulations before they are reauthorized and recommending their retention or removal to the General Assembly, with a goal of reducing the overall number of regulatory requirements by twenty-five percent. The bill also mandates that state agencies can only create new regulations if they have explicit statutory authority to do so and must propose removing two existing regulations for every new one they introduce. Furthermore, it enhances the transparency and rigor of regulatory assessment reports, requiring agencies to conduct cost-benefit analyses and make this information publicly available, and allows individuals affected by regulations to challenge their validity in court if they believe the agency lacked the proper authority to create them. The bill also introduces automatic expiration dates for regulations and requires periodic reviews to ensure they remain necessary and effective, with the Legislative Audit Council playing a role in scheduling and conducting these reviews. Finally, it clarifies that courts will interpret statutes and regulations de novo, meaning they will not defer to an agency's interpretation, and will resolve any ambiguities against increased agency authority.

Committee Categories

Business and Industry, Justice

Sponsors (50)

Jeff Bradley (R)* Nathan Ballentine (R),  Gary Brewer (R),  Mike Burns (R),  Paula Calhoon (R),  Don Chapman (R),  Bill Chumley (R),  Brandon Cox (R),  Heather Crawford (R),  Sylleste Davis (R),  Shannon Erickson (R),  Cal Forrest (R),  Craig Gagnon (R),  Daniel Gibson (R),  Doug Gilliam (R),  Thomas Lee Gilreath (R),  Val Guest (R),  Brandon Guffey (R),  Bill Hager (R),  Charles Hartz (R),  Bill Herbkersman (R),  Lee Hewitt (R),  Davey Hiott (R),  Bill Hixon (R),  Harriet Holman (R),  Brian Lawson (R),  Randy Ligon (R),  Steven Long (R),  Josiah Magnuson (R),  David Martin (R),  John McCravy (R),  Cody Mitchell (R),  Dennis Moss (R),  Mike Neese (R),  Brandon Newton (R),  Weston Newton (R),  Melissa Oremus (R),  Fawn Pedalino (R),  Tommy Pope (R),  Luke Rankin (R),  Robby Robbins (R),  Blake Sanders (R),  Carla Schuessler (R),  Mark Smith (R),  Murrell Smith (R),  Bill Taylor (R),  James Teeple (R),  David Vaughan (R),  Mark Willis (R),  Chris Wooten (R), 

Last Action

Committee report: Favorable with amendment Judiciary (on 04/29/2026)

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