Tag: red tape

As you may recall Last month I mentioned one of those little reforms that was floating around in Lansing that actually stood to make this state a better, more efficient place?

Back in June, state Senators Jim Marleau and Tonya Schuitmaker introduced legislation to cut red tape and bureaucracy in the delivery of health care by asking the insurance commissioner to work with the insurance companies to create a single "universal prior authorization" form for doctors who prescribe medicine for their patients.

"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.

In my experience, we on the right have a habit of jumping to immediate concepts, hopes and dreams for solutions.  It isn't that we're incapable of addressing the entire mess in our minds, it's just that we tend to be semi-neat and orderly.  Solve the immediate problem first then move to long-term solutions.

I know that's the way I typically think.  When news of the deficit jump broke mid-week I blogged that the legislature should be called to (or convene themselves) an emergency session to immediately right-size the budget.

Four days later and they haven't (why take your problems seriously when there's on-the-clock drinking to be done?) but they should.  

And while they dawdle, it is worth taking a look at the bigger picture.  We know what has to be done.  The Constitution requires a balanced budget so they're going to have to make some tough cuts and they don't have to but WILL use up a lot of one-time cash via the so-called stimulus package.  But how did we get here?

Exhibit A: LS Power.

LS Power is a New Jersey based energy company that was preparing to break ground near Midland, Michigan on a project that was expected to create thousands of new jobs... the construction of a new clean-coal power plant.  

On Friday they announced they were canceling those plans because of an unfriendly business climate and insanely complicated permitting requirements foisted on them by the Granholm-Cherry administration and their Department of Environmental Quality.  

The project was expected to create 1,500 construction jobs, 241 permanent jobs on-site and billions of dollars in regional economic activity.

Read on...