State regulatory management agency proposed

Members of the Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee heard testimony Feb. 12 on a measure that would create a new state agency to analyze and review Nebraska’s regulatory requirements.

LB472, sponsored by Amherst Sen. Dan McKeon, would create the Office of Regulatory Management within the executive branch, with a supervisor appointed by the governor. Under the bill, each state agency, board and commission would conduct an internal review of all current regulatory requirements within six months of the measure’s passage.

Following establishment of a baseline catalog of existing regulatory requirements, the entities would complete subsequent reviews every two years or within 60 days of a request from the Office of Regulatory Management.

If feasible, the reports would contain estimates of monetized and nonmonetized costs and benefits of all regulations, any change in number and estimated impact of the agency’s regulatory requirements and a cost estimate per citizen.

The Office of Regulatory Management also would be required to analyze any new regulatory requirement enacted by an agency to ensure best practices.

McKeon said a similar office in Virginia served as a blueprint for LB472, which he said would decrease unnecessary regulations and simplify those that remain.

“The bottom line is that we want to reduce barriers for businesses and individuals to succeed [and] to make the government accountable to its citizens,” he said.

Laura Ebke of the Platte Institute testified in favor of the proposal. She said a centralized office could act as a “hub” for the executive branch in its efforts to streamline state government and be a source of important information for the Legislature.

Ebke said Virginia’s experience has shown that any upfront costs to establish such an office “pay for themselves pretty quickly” and encourage economic growth.

Jaime Hegr, agency compliance and privacy officer at the state Department of Health and Human Services, provided neutral testimony. She said DHHS would have difficulty complying with the bill’s initial assessment timeline due to the complex and overlapping state and federal regulatory requirements involved in the agency’s work.

No one testified against LB472 and the committee took no immediate action on the proposal.