House Republicans Get Results on Reducing Outdated Regulations, Red Tape

Harrisburg - Pennsylvania House Republicans announced today that the Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC) - which is responsible for final approval of all state government regulations - adopted recommendations from six House committees to repeal outdated and unneeded regulations on September 11, 2024. Today's action follows a coordinated effort by House Republicans in September of 2022 to request that IRRC review scores of regulations under Section 8.1 of the Regulatory Review Act.

"In some cases, our research uncovered regulations that existed in the books before IRRC was created in 1982 and had never been reviewed," House Republican Appropriations Chairman Seth Grove (R - York) said. "The formal requests made by the House Aging and Older Adult Services, Children and Youth, Health, Labor and Industry, Judiciary, and State Government Committees to IRRC covered ten government agencies with questionable regulations. This is just another example of how some government officials talk about 'getting stuff done,' but House Republicans get things done."

Grove, then House State Government chairman, and State Rep. Kerry Benninghoff (R - Center/Mifflin), then House Republican leader, worked together in the 2021-22 session to increase attention on the regulatory process following unscrupulous regulations promulgated by Gov. Wolf during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The actions by IRRC today are a huge step forward for Pennsylvania, but a reminder we still have more work to do," said Benninghoff, who currently serves as Republican chairman of the House Transportation Committee. "Today's report proves that other agencies must still have outdated regulations on the books. We should formally ask IRRC to review agencies not covered in this report immediately."

"Utilizing existing legislative authority under Section 8.1 of the Regulatory Review Act, House Republican committee chairs showed what leadership looks like," Grove added. "Rather than creating more government to improve Pennsylvania's regulatory environment, we reduced unneeded red tape with the tools we already have."

According to IRRC, the six committee letters involved the review of 40 prior rulemakings, 103 chapters of regulations, and two subchapters within the ten agencies covered.

At the September 2024 meeting, all five IRRC commissioners voted in the affirmative for recommendations broken down by five agencies. The Departments of Aging, Corrections, Health, Labor and Industry, and State were all included in the final report. The unanimous votes today demonstrate the strong consensus on the need for regulatory reform.

"One of the regulations voted on by IRRC today involved a particularly egregious regulation at the Department of Labor and Industry regarding 'Blasting, Demolition, Fireworks and Explosives,'" Grove said. "Not only does the department no longer regulate this activity, but the regulation also had not been amended since 1969 and was based on a statute that was amended in 1971. IRRC said in its report keeping the regulation in place could 'cause confusion and impose unnecessary costs.' This is a clear example of the potential harm caused by outdated regulations."

Benninghoff added, "The Department of Health was a prime example of an agency which has lost control of its regulations. IRRC found some regulations governing hospitals had not been updated since the 1980s. The Department of Health is responsible for ensuring we have safe hospitals; how can we be sure they are fulfilling this mission when they aren't even keeping up with their regulations?"

The success of this review would not have been possible without the invaluable contributions of former committee chairs including Gary Day - House Aging and Older Adult Services, Sheryl Delozier - House Children and Youth, and Jim Cox - House Labor and Industry. Their dedication and hard work have been instrumental in this process.

Current committee chairs Kathy Rapp - House Health and Rob Kauffman - House Judiciary were also instrumental in this process and are now joined by chairs Steven Mentzer - House Aging and Older Adult Services, Barry Jozwiak - House Children and Youth, Ryan Mackenzie - House Labor and Industry, and Brad Roae - House State Government who have all worked to reduce government overreach and red tape.

"I look forward to working with my fellow chairs to expand the use of Section 8.1 in the future," Benninghoff concluded.

"This is just the beginning of our efforts to streamline and modernize Pennsylvania's regulatory environment. We are committed to continuing this work and ensuring that our regulations are up-to-date and serve the public's and the Commonwealth's best interests," Grove added.

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