Report: Virginia gets B in regulatory openness

(The Center Square) – Virginia scored a B in regulatory openness, which put the state above most of its competitors, according to the State Regulatory Openness Scorecard released by FreedomWorks, which is a conservative and libertarian advocacy group.

The commonwealth ranked toward the top in its ease of submitting comments, its transparency and accessibility and its uniformity. The only category in which the state did not score well was regulatory restrictiveness.

Residents can comment on all regulatory proposals through email and the state provides contact information for relevant staffers. Submitting comments is easier in Virginia than most states and it scored a 24 out of a possible 25 for its ease of submitting comments.

Virginia provides a regulatory register every two weeks, which provides residents with proposals, statutory authority, comment deadlines and agency contacts. The state received a 23 out of a possible 25 for transparency and accessibility.

Access to information is also uniform, thanks partially to the biweekly register. All rules are posted in the same manner and information for providing comments is very similar. The only differences are regarding the length of time for which public comments are accepted and the frequency of hearings. The state scored a 24 out of a possible 25 in uniformity.

Regulatory restrictiveness is the only category that brought the state down. The commonwealth has about 137,000 regulatory restrictions, which is about the middle of the pack when compared to other states. It scored a 15 out of a possible 25 for regulatory restrictiveness.

Overall, Virginia got an 86 out of a possible 100.

The commonwealth ranked higher than all of its neighbors, except for North Carolina, which received an A. Kentucky received a B-, Tennessee, West Virginia and Maryland all received a C+.

“The right of the people to ‘petition the government for redress of grievances’ is fundamental to the functioning of our republic,” FreedomWorks President Adam Brandon said in a statement. “This is true not only of the federal government, but also those of the states. While engaging with legislators is relatively straightforward, public engagement on regulatory issues is often mired in difficulty and confusion.”

Only seven states got an A and two states got a B+. There were six states with a B rating.

Brandon said regulatory reform helps all Americans, regardless of political affiliation and state lawmakers should make reforms a priority.

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