Streamlining State Business Regulatory Processes To Support Economic Recovery

As Governors work to facilitate a strong, rapid and equitable economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, Governors have made reviewing business regulations and regulatory processes a priority. Innovations and changes to business regulations and their associated administrative processes were explored by many states to counter the economic fallout from the pandemic and can provide valuable lessons moving forward.

This paper explores high-profile state-level changes to regulatory compliance and administrative processes from the past year, and addresses ways to assess their value and the benefit of continuing them with improved procedures for more streamlined implementation. It suggests policy areas that might be considered “low hanging fruit” for Governors and state agencies interested in streamlining the administration of their regulations, as well as next steps to consider.