Houghtaling & Downey Bill Would Waive First-Time Paperwork Penalties for Small Businesses

OCEAN TWP -- Legislation sponsored by Monmouth County Assembly Members Eric Houghtaling and Joann Downey would reduce punishing fees levied on local businesses by waiving first-time paperwork penalties for small businesses. The legislation passed the General Assembly with unanimous support.

“We have so many entrepreneurs and small business owners here in Monmouth County, and they deserve support and help, not to be taken advantage of,” said Downey (D-Monmouth), “Any step we can take to cut down on bureaucratic red tape is worth it.”

The bill (A-1704) would suspend fines for certain first-time paperwork violations committed by small businesses. The suspension of fines would not apply if the violation has the potential to cause serious harm to the public interest or if failure to impose a fine would interfere with detection of potential criminal activity. The fine suspension applies to small businesses with 50 or fewer employees.

“Running a small business is already hard enough without hidden fees. These kind of bureaucratic trip wires can too often dissuade people from starting their own business,” said Houghtaling (D-Monmouth), “Rather than punish local businesses for harmless mistakes, we want to encourage and support them.”