Here are the latest numbers on the progress of the periodic review and examination of existing rules:
- 8,017 total rules reviewed so far
- 4,850 rules to remain unchanged
- 2,296 rules subject to the readoption process
- 871 rules to be removed
This reform is from the landmark Regulatory Reform Act of 2013. Sunset provisions with periodic review was a policy that, based on my study, I thought would be good for North Carolina.
Why did I think that? For starters, the bulk of economic literature demonstrates regulation’s harmful effects on the economy. Cutting red tape and clearing out overregulation would therefore have beneficial effects for economic growth.
But states have tried many approaches to cutting red tape. Sunset provisions with periodic review, however, is the only state rules review process to have a “robustly statistically significant” effect in reducing red tape. That’s according to a study of state regulatory review processes from the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, which also found sunset provisions to have a significant, positive impact on the states economy as well.
Results show that this reform is working. Over one-tenth (11 percent) of the rules reviewed so far are now slated to be removed. Another nearly 29 percent must return to the rule adoption process as if new. Over half (60.5 percent) of the rules reviewed so far were retained without change.
