The Work Being Done To Cut Red Tape In Montana

"That’s why Governor Gianforte’s Red Tape Relief Initiative is so important, it tasks agencies with conducting a top-to-bottom regulatory review to identify and repeal excessive, outdated and unnecessary regulations."

As one of his first actions, Governor Gianforte created the Red Tape Relief Initiative and it’s already paying off in big ways, ushering in the most substantial regulatory relief Montanans have seen for years.

In some cases regulations may be necessary to protect public health and safety, but in many circumstances regulations may be overly restrictive or just entirely unnecessary. As these unneeded rules accumulate, they act like a dead weight on economic growth.

That’s why Governor Gianforte’s Red Tape Relief Initiative is so important, it tasks agencies with conducting a top-to-bottom regulatory review to identify and repeal excessive, outdated and unnecessary regulations.

In January we published the first Red Tape Snapshot, which showed that the accumulation of regulations had begun to slow, after decades of an administration with a ‘government cures all’ philosophy.

This week we published an updated version – the August 2022 Red Tape Snapshot. This new report shows not only that the accumulation of regulations has slowed, but that the regulatory burden is finally starting to decrease.

Between 2021 and 2022, Montana’s regulatory burden has now shrunk by nearly 1%. While that might not sound like much, it’s the largest percentage decrease in at least 4 years!

These reforms are going a long way in helping Montanans succeed. One of the best examples is the apprenticeship program reforms,  which have led to more apprenticeships being added in the first six months of 2022 than in 2018, 2019, and 2020 combined.

While this is only the beginning of the Red Tape Relief Initiative, this is a great start! Stay tuned as I continue to highlight the latest work being done to provide Montanans red tape relief.

For Liberty,
Tanner Avery

The Latest

The Cottonwood Fix
In PERC Policy Director, Hannah Downey’s latest column she discusses how a 2015 decision from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has allowed radical environmental groups to weaponize the Endangered Species Act to prevent forest management projects and how proposed legislation in the US Senate could fix this problem.

“Healthy forests are essential for humans and wildlife alike. But if the barriers of burdensome litigation and regulation for better forest management aren’t removed, it is likely to all go up in smoke.”

Fire On Mount Helena
Earlier this week, a fire began spreading on Mount Helena, but thanks to fuel mitigation efforts over the last few years, firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze before it did too much damage.

Our Take: This is further evidence of how important active forest management strategies, such as thinning and controlled burns are in making our forests healthier and more resilient to fires. If we don’t want all of our forests to burn up, then we need to remove the barriers standing in the way of these proven forest management strategies.

Central Bankers Admit The Obvious
During an annual conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Central Bank leaders warned that we might be entering into an era of high inflation due to a massive uptick of government spending paid for almost entirely through debt.

Our Take: While central bankers may now just be admitting that reckless government spending fuels inflation, this is not a new phenomenon. It’s time for Washington D.C. to follow Montana’s lead and implement a responsible budget.