More regulatory reform recommendations are coming.
Is Maryland Reining in Burdensome Business Regulations?
In 2015, Gov. Larry Hogan created the Regulatory Reform Commission and tasked them with figuring out a plan to improve Maryland’s business friendliness. The commission hosted statewide meetings to receive business feedback and then studied regulatory reform in four specific areas: environmental/land use, financial services, healthcare, occupations and business licensing.
The commission’s first of three reports,
delivered in December 2015, recommended consolidating professional licenses,
reducing fees, and instituting one-stop licensing procedures, among other
things.
The commission’s second report is expected
this December and will recommend reforming or repealing regulations that
businesses rate as unnecessary, burdensome, unfair, harsh, or duplicative.
Meanwhile, one of the recommendations from the first report—a one-stop shop for business registrations, called Maryland Business Express—is already succeeding. As of June 30, the end of the 2015-2016 fiscal year, more than half of new businesses in Maryland registered online, a significant increase from the 17 percent that did in 2013, reported Technical.ly Baltimore.
