Pennsylvania House approves bill to create agency that would review obsolete laws, regulations

(The Center Square) – Pennsylvania lawmakers in the state House of Representatives approved a bill this week that proposes to identify obsolete laws and governmental regulations.

Rep. Kate Klunk, R-Hanover is the prime sponsor of House Bill 939, which provides a process to review obsolete regulations on the books. According to a news release from Klunk’s office, there currently is no legislative authority to provide an independent, regular and systematic review of existing statutes and regulations.

The vote to approve the bill was 111-90, passing on a party-line vote with the chamber’s Republicans uniformly in favor and Democrats opposed.

The legislation would create the Independent Office of the Repealer, which would be tasked with evaluating existing regulations, some of which have been on the books for decades, to ensure they are still relevant. During the review process, public educators, business, government entities and others would have the opportunity to submit recommendations.

“At the start of the pandemic, the Wolf administration suspended numerous regulations to improve the flow of goods to residents,” Klunk said in the news release. “This clearly shows businesses and residents can act safely and responsibly without some of the more than 153,000 regulations currently on the books. If we can do without certain regulations during the time of a crisis, surely we can do it during more normal times.”

The bill now goes to the Senate for further consideration.

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