State and Federal Regulatory Reform : A Comparative Analysis

Like the Federal government, many states are increasingly conscious of the burdens, as well as the benefits, of government regulations. This paper provides a comprehensive assessment of state efforts to eliminate or change burdensome or foolish regulations and to use economic analysis to produce more sensible results. While the approaches differ widely and no generalizations are possible, it is clear that the results have been mixed at best. A number of states claim that improvements in the regulatory process have brought about more effective and less costly regulations, but the analytical support for such claims is often weak. The paper contains a full-scale account of state regulatory reform activities and an assessment of results achieved in four states with particularly ambitious programs of regulatory reform - California, New York, Florida, and Virginia. In general, the review of state reform efforts reveals that efforts are most effective when there is a strong, well-funded, central oversight mechanism with active political support, and when review requirements are clear and provide agencies with specific guidelines. Until significant resources and political support are devoted to reform efforts, however, real-world progress in regulatory reform is not likely to be great