Above / Governor orders statewide review of all rules, regulations in Illinois to cut for efficiency, economic growth and job creation. Business owners encouraged to participate with feedback.
During a visit to College of DuPage, Governor Bruce Rauner today announced a comprehensive plan to promote economic growth and job creation by cutting the red tape in Illinois. He signed Executive Order 16-13 to review all agency rules and regulations by the newly-created Illinois Competitiveness Council.
“For years, Illinois has added layers and layers of burdensome rules and regulations to a never-ending bureaucracy,” Governor Rauner stated in the news release. “It’s an endless line of red tape that creates a barrier for small businesses and entrepreneurs. By cutting the red tape, we are creating an environment where they can succeed.”
Illinois Competitiveness Council aims to cut red tape
The Illinois Competitiveness Council will be comprised of a representative of each of Illinois’ regulatory state agencies. Its goal is to save Illinoisans at least $250 million in direct license fee costs over the next decade, and save Illinois taxpayers and business owners at least 4 million pages in paperwork. It will work to ensure current regulations are up to date and relevant to today’s industries and practices; ensure the language in rules are easy to understand; reduce the amount of unduly burdensome requirements on businesses, social service providers, and citizens through both time and cost; and ensure there is a clear need for the regulation.
“Illinois is currently a patchwork of duplicative, contradictory and outdated regulations,” said U-Jung Choe, Chairwoman of the Illinois Competitive Council, who has lived in Naperville for two-plus years. “The Illinois Competitiveness Council will take an all-encompassing look at the state’s policies, rules and regulations to cultivate an atmosphere that makes it easier for small businesses and entrepreneurs to grow and flourish.”
In addition, the Illinois Competitiveness Council will look for recommendations to improve Illinois’ licensing environment to promote job growth and job creation. Currently, the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) has more than a million active licenses in more than 200 license categories, however for nearly a third, IDFPR has issued fewer than 100 licenses. The growth of these licenses has increased 184 percent in the last 20 years.
“Clearing out red tape liberates everyone — teachers, doctors, small businesses, and public servants,” said Philip Howard, founder of the Common Good, a nonpartisan reform coalition. “It’s hard to compete in a fast-moving world when hacking through a bureaucratic jungle. Modernizing regulation will make government better and Illinois more competitive.”
Kentucky, Indiana, Colorado, and Massachusetts have all successfully reviewed their rules and cut red tape to give their citizens a more competitive advantage over Illinois citizens. Burdensome and unnecessary regulations, policies and licensing requirements disproportionately impact small businesses, particularly minority-owned businesses.
New Competitiveness Council seeks public input
In order to have the greatest impact, the Illinois Competitiveness Council is seeking input from the public on which rules and regulations are the biggest hindrance to people and businesses.
Anyone can submit feedback to cut the red tape at www.illinois.gov/cut.
Video of the announcement is posted here.
Story submitted by Catherine Kelly for the Office of the Governor Bruce Rauner.
