One of the most important of the 60 recommendations made by the 2000 delegates to the 1995 White House Conference on Small Business (WHCSB) called for reform of the federal regulatory process, including judicial review of federal regulations. Initiated by the 16 members of the Hawaii delegation, this proposal produced one of the most significant pieces of small business legislation in decades: Public Law 104-121, better known as the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA).

SBREFA became law on March 29, 1996 to help create a new climate in the federal government that is more responsive to small business. The six key aspects of the legislation are:

Regulatory Compliance Simplifica-tion: Federal regulatory agencies are required to develop comprehensive guidelines and a well-defined process to respond to small business inquires on actions that businesses are required to take to comply with rules established by the agencies. These guidelines must be written in plain English.

Equal Access to Justice: Small businesses are given expanded authority to go to court to be awarded attorney's fees and costs when a federal regulatory agency has been found to be excessive in its enforcement of federal regulations.

Congressional Review: Congress is authorized to review each major federal rule promulgated before it can take effect.

Regulatory Enforcement Reform of Penalties: Each federal regulatory agency must establish a policy to provide for the reduction and, in some circumstances, the waiver of civil penalties for violations of a regulation.

Small Business Advocacy Review Panels: Before proposed rules are published, federal regulatory agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, are required to establish government panels that receive input from affected small businesses and make public the panels' reports as part of the record.

Oversight of Regulatory Enforcement: The administrator of the Small Business Administration must appoint a small business regulatory-enforcement ombudsman and 10 small business regulatory fairness boards to provide small businesses with a procedure to comment on the enforcement activities of federal regulatory agencies. The national ombudsman must submit an annual report to Congress on the findings.

Through the SBREFA Ombudsman and the small business Regulatory Fairness Boards, small business men and women who believe they have been unfairly cited or fined, or those having other negative experiences with federal agencies, now have a more effective way of getting their comments heard and addressed. The Regulatory Fairness Board members are small business owners and operators themselves, and are volunteering their time to make sure that their fellow small business owners are aware of this opportunity. To register their concerns, small businesses must submit a SBREFA Federal Agency Appraisal Form, which can be obtained by calling toll free 1-888-REG-FAIR (734-3247) or by downloading it from the Internet from the SBA Home Page at http://www.sba.gov/regfair.

A completed appraisal form will be reviewed by the national ombudsman and the fairness board member in the submitter's region (Hawaii is ably represented in the Western States regional board in San Francisco by Small Business Hawaii member Tim Moore, Old Lahaina Cafe and Luau co-owner. The national ombudsman will follow up with the agency, requesting an explanation of the enforcement action taken, and then inform the business owner and the appropriate regional fairness board of the agency's response. Public hearings may be held on issues that highlight significant regulatory problems or achievements of federal agencies.

At the recent Western States Congress on Small Business in Long Beach, California, 1995 Hawaii WHCSB delegates Bill Bass, Judy Magin, Tim Moore, Jim Proctor, Lloyd Sodetani and Bette Tatum; two other Hawaii representatives, Lynne Woods and Karen McKinnie; and delegates from other western states began work on a framework for the next White House Conference. Small Business Hawaii and the National Federation of Independent Business-Hawaii representatives will continue working to ensure that small business owners themselves remain the driving force behind the formulation of issues vital to the success of small businesses in our nation.

At the state level, after months of hard work and much frustration, the Small Business Task Force on Regulatory Relief is nearing completion and an early December release of their recommendations: a Regulatory Flexibility Act for Hawaii, an executive administrative order reforming the regulatory process, and other administrative and legislative recommendations derived from their investigation into the state's regulatory environment. Their recommendations are sure to cause a strong reaction from those who seek to preserve the status quo rather than to make vital fundamental structural changes to improve Hawaii's business climate.

However, as Outrigger's David Carey said at October's SBH Sunrise, it will take a very involved and committed small business electorate to ensure that their elected representatives get the message and support these recommendations

. Call, fax, or e-mail Bob Sigall (847-2046/847-1FAX/ bobnlei@aloha.net) or Jim Proctor (395-6221/394-2028(F)/ csvcsa@gte.net) to get actively involved with the Small Business Hawaii government affairs committee and the Small Business Legislative Coalition.

Want to sell something? The best way I know to do this, is through the printed media, classified ads, the newspaper! Want to sell an idea? Well, that's an entirely different story, unless of course, you want to proselytize for the gender, race, class or other, off-the-wall, radical political belief. I came to this conclusion some time ago, but my attempt to place a tiny little classified in the local paper reminded me of how correct my conclusion has been. On the 3rd of October I called The Honolulu Advertiser, part of the Gannett empire, and requested the following Ad be placed in the real estate section of the classified:

Buying a Home? In a Declining Market? Call 672-5725 First!

What happened next reminded me that there is a media 'elite' that simply does not believe American citizens can reflect, can really think for themselves. And that elite's primary interest is more than a license for conformity, it is an absolute sentence to conform.

The very pleasant and courteous employee who helped me was obviously operating within some carefully crafted constraints. She said, with a certain nervousness, that an advertisement of this type must be cleared by her supervisors. I would have to send a copy of my advertisement and product for 'their' review. I complied of course. What could possibly be wrong with selling a carefully crafted analysis of the future of the state economy? I think the people of Hawaii ought to know what I have uncovered. I certainly don't expect the world to line up and mindlessly buy into my ideas, but it would be nice to share those ideas, especially if I am paying for that opportunity! And, I believe my analysis will be born out with the passage of time, and not much of it.

However, The Advertiser obviously does not share my view. In fact, that supposed bastion of the First Amendment applied "state-styled" censorship and refused my advertisement without major modification, I was told that I would not be permitted to place this ad under the heading, real estate. I have sent a letter to the editor requesting that he provide explanation for this incident. I'm curious. Is the Advertiser afraid of ideas? Or is it that they merely want everyone to conform to their world view?

Sunstate International Business Systems is reachable on the Internet's Worldwide Web at http://www.sunstate-intl.com.

It was terrific to see an article in the November newsletter, discussing the music industry and small business which included the specialized area of jingle writing. Our company has written and produced over 100 jingles in the past few years, for Kahala Mall, McDonalds, Aloha Water, Best Island Printing, KCCN, etc. We normally have been retained by ad agencies, but we can work directly with companies. It is amazing how people are attached and remember jingles. People remember jingles from childhood way into adulthood‹it is awesome! So, support the local music industry and reinforce your business by remembering to add jingles to your web pages, voice mail and ads‹it works!