Is the Governor’s “regulatory reset” just “all talk and no action?”
A weekly COLUMN by NY State Senator Tom O’Mara
Here’s hoping that it’s a case of better late than never. We’ll see.
Governor Kathy Hochul recently issued an Executive Order to begin what she’s calling a “Regulatory Reset.” She touts it as a “comprehensive and methodical review of thousands of regulations and laws across all state agencies, to improve the functioning and efficiency of state government.”
From the governor, “This ‘Regulatory Reset’ will leverage cutting edge tools and human expertise to conduct the most comprehensive review of our laws and regulations in state history, saving New Yorkers precious time and money…one that will strengthen the vital work of government and reaffirm its role for good in our state.”
It all sounds well and good, and action on this front is certainly long overdue. Consequently, here’s hoping that this new effort will finally jumpstart action on regulatory reform and, while we’re at it, mandate relief.
At the same time, don’t be fooled. The warning stands that all of this could wind up being just another chapter of the same old song and dance: All talk and no action.
After all, there’s a long, long history to keep in mind.
In his 2014 State of the State message, for example, former Governor Andrew Cuomo called for the establishment of a joint commission to kick start a comprehensive, statewide regulatory reform initiative.
That prompted our Senate Republican Majority Conference, at that time, to release a comprehensive regulatory reform report that we hoped would help set the stage for one of New York’s largest-ever regulatory reform efforts following Cuomo’s call. That Senate report alone identified more than 2,000 specific rules, regulations and practices that put New York’s businesses and manufacturers, large and small, at a competitive disadvantage.
“Let’s stay focused on the most important job at hand, and that’s turning around the upstate economy,” I said at the time. “We know that we need to cut taxes, and we’re working on that. We also know that upstate manufacturers, small businesses, and industries across the board are overburdened with far too many unnecessary state regulations. It’s time to get rid of the costly red tape that keeps the upstate economy going nowhere and makes New York’s businesses climate one of the worst in America.”
It was in the fall of 2013, in fact, that our majority conference held a series of public regulatory forums focused on agriculture, construction, small business, tourism and, at a hearing I hosted in Corning, upstate manufacturing. At that Corning hearing, we heard testimony from representatives of several prominent Southern Tier manufacturers, including Corning Incorporated, Dresser-Rand, Nucor and F.M. Howell & Company, as well as leading economic development agencies including Southern Tier Economic Growth (STEG) and the Steuben County Industrial Development Agency.
The testimony we heard from leading Southern Tier manufacturers and economic development leaders reaffirmed the absolute importance of revitalizing the manufacturing sector as the key to turning around the upstate economy. We received some straightforward and valuable input on why New York State continues to be overregulated, overtaxed, and a tough place to do business, and steps we could take to change it.
Unfortunately, Cuomo, after announcing it with great fanfare, never followed up on it, despite the Senate Majority having already put forth valuable groundwork and a detailed blueprint to begin taking concrete actions toward Cuomo’s stated goal of reducing the regulatory burden for employers, entrepreneurs, and all New Yorkers.
Our forums helped identify 2,219 specific regulatory burdens with which New York State businesses must contend. The subsequent report in 2014 noted that while it was difficult to put an exact price tag on the total economic cost of New York’s more than 750,000 regulations, studies have gauged the negative economic impact of government overregulation. A study commissioned by the Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy, for example, found the total impact of federal regulations on the U.S. economy in 2008 was $1.75 trillion—over 12% of the economy. More directly comparable to New York, a 2009 study found that regulations in California— a state with a similarly burdensome regulatory structure — cost the Golden State’s economy $493 billion annually and resulted in a loss of 3.8 million jobs.
We still need to move forward on this important work.
Yes, it’s time to “Reset New York,” as Governor Hochul says. It’s been that’s time for a long time. For years, I have joined many others in the Legislature (and the public and private sectors generally) consistently pointing to overregulation as one of the key obstacles to sustained economic growth and job creation throughout the upstate region.
We have longed called for creating a more business friendly climate in New York State by encouraging lower taxes, fewer mandates, and less regulation. We have long called for injecting some common sense, fairness, and, maybe most importantly, restraint on state regulatory agencies.
We need to keep working against a New York State regulatory climate that puts our businesses and manufacturers at a competitive disadvantage, imposes red tape that strangles local economies, or encourages higher taxes, outrageous mandates, and burdensome overregulation.
Will Governor Hochul follow through on her promise? The track record of recent New York governors isn’t promising. I’ve got my fingers crossed, but I’m not holding my breath.
