The Movement

The Trump Administration has made it a priority to reduce regulations for federal and state government.

The White House has created the Governor’s Initiative on Regulatory Innovation to help states promote reform of burdensome government regulation. This will help states share their best practices and align federal and state regulations as they are being reduced.

In 2019, Executive Order 13771 introduced the “One-In-Two-Out” policy on federal regulation. The President exceeded this goal, reducing seven regulations for every one newly created.

Eliminating red tape can be very challenging to achieve. British Columbia has become a case study for regulatory reform because of their innovative approach and long-lasting results. By 2001, British Columbia’s economy was underperforming compared to the Canadian economy. A part of the problem was the province’s overly burdensome framework. British Columbia began reforming their regulations and were successful in reducing the burden on citizens, business and government by 40%.

They eliminated over 134,000 regulations by:

1. Setting a goal of reducing regulation by 1/3 in three years.
2. Requiring the elimination of old policies before new ones could be introduced.
3. Making each government agency responsible for their regulations.
4. Getting the private sector involved.

You can read more about their efforts here.

Idaho has now become the least regulated state in the nation. An executive order, early in Governor Brad Little’s first term, required state agencies to identify two regulations for repeal (or significant modification) for each new rule  added over a two-year period. “The Administrative code was cut by 20% and significantly simplified by at least another 20%,” according to Little’s administration.

You can read more about their efforts here.

Arizona has eliminated thousands of unnecessary regulations and is helping lead the nation in regulatory reform. In 2017, Governor Ducey launched an online red tape initiative website for Arizonians to make recommendations to update the state’s regulatory system. That same year, Ducey called for elimination of red tape in his State of the State Address. Ducey also issued a moratorium on regulatory rulemaking to provide Arizona businesses certainty while restricting the unchecked expansion of government that can stifle innovation and job growth. Since the call-to-action in 2017, Arizona has met and exceeded their goals of eliminating regulation.

You can read more about their efforts here.