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Bill > S0254


SC S0254

SC S0254
Small Business Regulatory Freedom Act


summary

Introduced
01/21/2025
In Committee
01/21/2025
Crossed Over
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 aims to enhance regulatory oversight and reduce regulatory burdens on small businesses in South Carolina by establishing several key provisions. The bill creates a Small Business Regulatory Review Committee that will conduct an initial review of existing regulations with the specific goal of reducing regulatory requirements by twenty-five percent. When agencies propose new regulations, they must now identify and propose the removal of two existing regulations for each new one, and they can only promulgate regulations with explicit statutory authority. The bill mandates comprehensive assessment reports for all proposed regulations, requiring agencies to provide detailed cost-benefit analyses, publicly accessible documentation, and standardized analytic methods. Additionally, the bill introduces an automatic expiration mechanism for regulations, which will expire after eight years unless readopted through a rigorous review process. The legislation also strengthens judicial review of agency regulations by allowing courts to more critically examine agency interpretations and requiring de novo interpretation of statutes and rules. Courts can now invalidate regulations that lack express statutory authority, and agencies must justify their regulatory actions with greater transparency and economic impact analysis. These changes are designed to create a more business-friendly regulatory environment while ensuring that regulations are necessary, cost-effective, and periodically reassessed.

Committee Categories

Justice

Sponsors (20)

Last Action

Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on 254, 3021 (10:00:00 3/19/2026 Gressette Room 105) (on 03/19/2026)

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