Amend the bill by striking out everything after the enacting clause and inserting the following:

SUMMARY

This amendment is the minority report of the committee and replaces the bill. It establishes the Small Business Regulatory Advocate in order to assist small businesses in resolving problems with state agencies and business owners that face hardship as a result of actions taken by a regulatory agency. It also requires that the advocate must be an individual from the Executive Department, State Planning Office who provides technical assistance to the Maine Regulatory Fairness Board. It further requires the advocate to identify areas in which small businesses have problems in dealings with state agencies, propose changes in the administrative practices of state agencies to mitigate those identified problems and identify potential legislative changes that may be appropriate to mitigate such problems. The amendment also adds an appropriations and allocations section.