"Michigan's economy is dragging, and the state is losing jobs," Harding wrote in 2005.  "Almost no one has called publicly for reducing the damage caused to our economic climate (and to effective regulatory practices) by Michigan's unnecessarily burdensome environmental regulations..."

It may have taken more than 1,500 days but someone finally paid attention. Republican state Senator Jud Gilbert recently introduced Senate Bill 434 in an effort to "limit state regulation promulgation authority."  Harding, not surprisingly, is a fan.

"Many environmental regulations that have serious impact on Michigan businesses and households are made in the cubicle of some state bureaucrat who is unaccountable to Michigan residents," he said yesterday.  "Important environmental and other regulatory policies should be made by elected officials who are ultimately accountable to voters."

Amen and preach!

SB 434 could help ease overbearing bureaucratic burdens on job makers in policy areas ranging from agriculture and air emissions to property rights and wetland permitting.  

Beyond the immediately tangible benefits there's a much deeper value in this sort of legislation.  By drawing back the power of the unelected bureaucracy and shifting the ability to regulate in excess of federal standards squarely onto the shoulders of legislators selected by the voters, SB 434 actually strengthens the Democratic process.

"Requiring legislative approval before state agencies can promulgate regulations that are more stringent than federal requirements is a step toward curbing the current practice of regulation without representation," Harding added. "Many states that Michigan competes with for jobs have already instituted this common sense reform."

Of course, there's the jobs issue, too.  And the intrinsic personal joy I derive from knowing that anything might curb the power of the DEQ.