(2017 Wisconsin Act 108)
One of the most significant flaws in the process by which state government agencies carry out their regulatory duties is the absence of formalized procedures to continuously review and\or revise existing regulations to ensure marketplace conditions, current business practices as well as technology and innovation are considered. This institutional shortcoming can force small employers to spend time and money complying with state government regulations that are outdated, obsolete, unnecessary or overly burdensome.
2017 Wisconsin Act 108 establishes formalized procedures for the continuous review of existing state government regulations. Of note, this new law:
- creates an expedited procedure to repeal obsolete and unnecessary state government regulations which should reduce the amount of time it takes to repeal an existing regulation from years to months;
- requires state government agencies to submit a report to the Wisconsin State Legislature every two years listing all existing regulations under their jurisdiction that are deemed to be obsolete, unnecessary or economically burdensome. State government agencies just also provide legislators with a “plan of action” to address existing regulations that obsolete, unnecessary or economically burdensome; and
- allows state legislators to request and receive retrospective Economic Impact Analysis of existing state government agency regulations thereby allowing lawmakers to know the true compliance costs of an older regulation.