Frontier Institute Statement In Support Of HB 836

Legislation promotes innovation with targeted red tape relief

HELENA – Today, the Frontier Institute offered support for HB 836, a bill that follows Frontier Institute’s recommendations to create a regulatory sandbox for property and casualty insurers in Montana. 

“The flexibility created by a regulatory sandbox will make Montana a destination for businesses with innovative products and services,” said Kendall Cotton, President and CEO of the Frontier Institute. “HB 836 will provide Montana’s insurance marketplace with targeted red tape relief to promote innovation and increase our economic competitiveness.”

Regulatory sandboxes grant businesses permission to operate free from burdensome and outdated regulations for a set period of time, allowing them to test innovative products and services while still undergoing oversight to protect consumers’ health and safety.

HB 836 creates a regulatory sandbox specifically for property and casualty insurers, including workers’ compensation. The regulatory sandbox would be administered by Montana’s Insurance Commissioner. 

Frontier Institute has promoted extensive research about regulatory sandboxes and the need for red tape relief: 

• Montana has tens of thousands of regulatory restrictions on the books. Regulatory accumulation has been shown to stifle economic growth and substantially increase the cost of doing business. 
• Insurance is one of the top ten industries most heavily targeted by regulation in Montana. 
• Montana has some of the highest workers’ compensation insurance costs in the country, making this industry sector ripe for innovation. 
• At least 11 states have successfully adopted some form of regulatory sandbox, including Arizona, Utah and South Dakota.
• Regulatory Sandboxes attract business. Companies have relocated to states like Arizona, Utah and Hawaii to participate in their regulatory sandboxes.
• Innovative companies participating in regulatory sandboxes have created hundreds of jobs and raised tens of millions of dollars in investments.