by James A. BaconThe best: crowdfunding.

 A bill submitted by Del. Scott Taylor, R-Virginia Beach, will make it easier for entrepreneurs to raise money for start-up businesses through crowdfunding. The bill creates an exemption from the state Securities Act applying to the first $2 million raised per year. A business still could not raise more than $10,000 from any single purchaser unless the purchaser is an accredited investor.

States Taylor: “The greatest challenge that start-ups with good ideas face is finding the capital to grow. ‘Crowdfunding’ has grown to a multi-billion dollar industry that lets entrepreneurs make their case to small investors and get their ideas off the ground. This legislation will make it easier for Virginians to invest in promising Virginia start-ups, creating a culture of entrepreneurship and more good-paying jobs.”

The bill passed the House of Delegates on a 99 to 0 vote.

The worst: Selective COPN rollback: The Certificate of Public Need (COPN) law, which regulates investment in new medical facilities and expensive equipment, protects hospitals from competition — justifiable only as a way to offset hospitals’ significant obligation to provide indigent care. A bill submitted by Bobby Orrock, R-Thornburg, would roll back the law in certain instances.

The bill would provide exemptions for existing general hospitals and psychiatric hospitals when adding non-nursing home beds, exemptions for certain hospitals adding open heart surgery, and exemptions for certain hospitals adding neonatal care facilities.

Less regulation is a good thing, right? Yes, when applied to everyone equally. COPN review adds unnecessary cost and makes hospitals less responsive to market conditions. But less regulation is NOT a good thing when it serves to advantage certain players over others. Please note: The exemptions apply only to existing hospitals — not to anyone trying to enter the market. In effect, it lifts the burden of regulation for established providers while maintaining it for anyone who wants to compete.

Second, the bill provides arbitrary conditions on who qualifies for the exemption. Hospitals adding open heart surgery must have “at least 1,100 adult inpatient or outpatient cardiac catheterizations, including at least 400 therapeutic catheterizations, or discharged at least 800 patients with the principal diagnosis of ischemic heart disease during the 12 months immediately preceding such registration.” What? Is there any medical justification for such a restriction, or has it been inserted into the bill to apply to one particular hospital only? Who is that hospital? People should demand to know.

The bill also exempts “intermediate- or specialty-level neonatal special care services at an existing medical care facility that registers the new service and delivered more than 1,000 infants in the 12 months immediately preceding such registration.” Really? What’s the justification for that exemption? Who’s the beneficiary here? How about a little transparency?

Orrock’s bill was passed unanimously by the House Health, Welfare and Institutions Committee.