State Regulatory Compliance Processes: Lessons Learned From COVID-19

Project: State Regulatory Compliance Processes: Lessons Learned From COVID-19

Description: Over the past 18 months, the nation’s economy and society have been upended by the COVID-19 pandemic. To protect public health while minimizing economic disruption, state and local governments took action to improve the regulatory compliance process, such as:

• Utilized additional online mechanisms for some regulatory compliance processes;
• Addressed business pain points and concerns about timeliness; and
• Improved sequencing and routing of regulatory approvals (for example, by allowing offices to do concurrent reviews)

Supported by a grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Academy's Center for Intergovernmental Partnerships analyzed states' actions related to their regulatory standards. The report discovered several main steps state governments took regarding:

• Simplified permitting paved the way for business start-ups;
• New permissions allowed bars and restaurants to resume operations;
• Streamlined licensing allowed healthcare professionals to continue to practice; and
• The authorization of telehealth allowed millions of people to receive remote healthcare services.