(NN&V Staff) – Assemblyman Mark Sherwood today vowed to fight a bill proposed by Secretary of State Ross Miller that would impose what Sherwood called “outrageous and unfair” fines on small businesses in Nevada.
Assembly Bill 78 would impose fines of up to $10,000 on businesses that fail, even accidentally, to obtain a state business license within 30 days of being informed such a license is required.
“At a time when we should be doing all we can to assist small businesses and remove government obstacles to their success, it is simply outrageous to create new bureaucratic burdens on small business owners,” Sherwood said. “This is one of the most egregious anti-business proposals I have ever seen.”
Assembly Bill 78 reads in part: “A person who fails to obtain a state business license pursuant to this section within 30 days after receiving notice of failure to obtain a state business license from the Secretary of State is subject to a fine of not less than $1,000 but not more than $10,000.”
“This bill would empower the state government to collect 50 times the cost of a business license if a business owner doesn’t meet the state-imposed registration deadline,” Sherwood said. “Times are hard enough on Nevada’s entrepreneurs. As legislators, we should be working to remove Draconian government roadblocks, not create more of them. If enacted, AB 78 would kill jobs and destroy businesses.”