Idaho hits reset button on state regulations

I was at a conference workshop this morning–about “regulatory overreach”–and one of the panelists was legislator form Idaho. This legislator made sure that we all knew what they had done this year–essentially repealing ALL of the regulatory code through a universal sunset process, and then adding a few critical ones back in. Given that most of us in the room have a predisposition against excessive regulation, I suspect that people from half the states of the union heard that, and wished it could have been THEIR state that had done that.

Then, this article popped up on my Google alerts.

Less than one year into his first term as Idaho governor, Brad Little has accomplished what many states and the federal government have been struggling to do for years: regulatory reform. During a news conference Wednesday, Little said Idaho cut or simplified 75% of its regulatory rules this year. Of Idaho’s 72,000 restrictions, Little said 30,936, have been eliminated. Read more here.

To be honest, they do have something to be proud of. According to the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, Idaho had about 30,000 fewer regulations than Nebraska before they sunset them all. And if their new numbers are accurate, they now have 10,000 fewer than the previously “least regulated” state–our neighbors in South Dakota.

Nebraska should strive to be less regulated–not just in the area of occupational licensing, but in all areas of life.