Dear Editor,

As the 2013 regular legislative session began last Tuesday, I had the privilege of introducing and sponsoring a bill that I consider the businessman’s best friend, and the bureaucrat’s worst nightmare.

Called the Red Tape Reduction Act, the measure is designed to unburden businesses of all sizes from needless and inefficient government bureaucracy and regulation.  I was led to sponsor the bill after several business owners in my district complained that satisfying bureaucratic government red tape requirements eats up countless man hours, produces numerous compliance costs and takes their attention away from their main objective — keeping the doors open and providing jobs right here at home.

State government should concentrate on giving business owners the tools they need to remain successful instead of finding ways to suffocate them under the weight of needless government oversight and mounds of monotonous paperwork.

Under the provisions of my bill, any agency proposing a rule that might have an adverse effect on business must file a business economic impact statement with the Joint Committee on Administrative Regulation Review prior to its adoption.  The joint committee, which is comprised of both House and Senate members, is authorized to reject implementation of new regulations based upon their impact on businesses.

In addition to limiting new regulations, the legislation requires all existing rules to be reviewed every five years in order to determine whether they should be amended, rescinded or remain unchanged.

My bill is a major piece of the House Republican Caucus’s 2013 “We Dare Defend Our Rights” legislative agenda, a slate of bills intended to fight against the expansion of government on all levels. It is written to oppose many of the ultra-liberal proposals that are trying to be implemented on the federal level. I invite you to review the complete agenda by visiting Alhousegop.com/wedaredefend on the Internet.

By approving the Republican legislative agenda and continuing to push for commonsense, conservative reforms, we can put Alabama firmly on the path to prosperity and bring an increasing business-like approach to the way government is run in Montgomery.

Rep. April Weaver

Alabama House of Representatives

House District 49