JUNEAU, Alaska – A new law signed by Gov. Frank Murkowski has given small business owners more of a say before regulations affecting them are implemented. House Bill 33 implements key elements of regulatory flexibility model legislation drafted by the SBA's Office of Advocacy. Similar to the federal Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), the new state law requires state agencies to consider the impact of their policies on small business before they issue final regulations. Nearly two dozen states have signed small business regulatory flexibility bills into law over the past year, according to the SBA. Compared to other states, Alaska's credit unions have a distinct feature when it comes to member business lending. Credit unions here have the highest average MBL at $545,011, according to CUNA, which recently looked at business lending at CUs and banks in all 50 states. Ten Alaska CUs currently have outstanding MBLs totaling $104 million. While the numbers are significant, banks here still command 97% of the business lending marketshare with $3.4 billion in business loans.