Weekly Legislative Update

The U.S. Senate voted yesterday to repeal the burdensome 1099 reporting requirement that was part of the federal health care law. The vote was 81-17. Senator Ben Cardin voted for the repeal. The repeal was amended into Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization legislation. Once it passes, the House of Representatives must pass its repeal legislation. Just last month, House Republicans signaled that they would move quickly to repeal. In addition, President Barack Obama signaled his support for the repeal during his State of the Union address last week.

As indicated last week, Governor Martin O’Malley unveiled a new economic development initiative aimed at helping businesses grow and create jobs. The new initiative, “Business is Maryland Made Easy,” will focus on developing specific strategies for state agencies to streamline processes, simplify regulations and improve communications.

One element of the initiative is stakeholder process reviews. “We’re working across state agencies to identify and remove barriers to business success,” said Christian Johansson, Secretary of the Department of Business and Economic Development. If you have feedback on state regulations that are burdensome, complex or unpredictable, let DBED know by sending an email to MDMadeEasy@choosemaryland.org. Be as specific as possible.

DBED is also working on a Central Business Licensing system as part of the initiative. The goal is to create a centralized online system for all business licenses and permits.

The Governor also introduced members of the newly formed Maryland Small Business Commission and charged them with identifying other permitting, licensing and regulatory areas for review. Deborah Stallings, President and CEO of HR Anew and a NAWBO member was among those named to the Commission. The Commission will provide a forum for small business to articulate and address barriers to business growth, recommend economic policy development measures to the Governor and General Assembly and oversee implementation of the Small Business Task Force recommendations.