A. The "small business regulatory advisory commission" is created. The commission shall consist of nine members who are current or former small business owners, five appointed by the governor and two each appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives and the president pro tempore of the senate. Each member shall be from a different geographic region of the state. Members shall serve two-year terms. A member shall not serve more than three consecutive terms. Members shall name the chairperson of the commission. The commission shall meet at the call of the chairperson. A majority of the members constitutes a quorum for the conduct of business. Members are entitled to per diem and mileage as provided in the Per Diem and Mileage Act [10-8-1 to 10-8-8 NMSA 1978] and shall receive no other compensation, perquisite or allowance.

B. The commission is administratively attached to the economic development department, and staff for the commission shall be provided by the department.

C. The commission may:

(1) provide state agencies with input regarding proposed rules that may adversely affect small business;

(2) consider requests from small business owners to review rules adopted by an agency;

(3) review rules promulgated by an agency to determine whether a rule places an unnecessary burden on small business and make recommendations to the agency to mitigate the adverse effects; and

(4) provide an annual evaluation report to the governor and the legislature, including recommendations and evaluations of agencies regarding regulatory fairness for small businesses.

D. The commission does not have authority to:

(1) interfere with, modify, prevent or delay an agency or administrative enforcement action;

(2) intervene in legal actions; or

(3) subpoena witnesses to testify or to produce documents, but it may request witnesses to voluntarily testify or produce documents.

History: Laws 2005, ch. 244, § 5.

Effective dates. — Laws 2005, ch. 244, § 7 made Laws 2005, ch. 244, § 5 effective July 1, 2005.