NEWYORK: Governor Kathy Hochul announced the first series of state actions to improve government service delivery through her EXPRESS NY initiative, with 50 actions being taken across 22 state agencies.
All told, these actions are projected to save New Yorkers tens of millions of dollars in unnecessary fees and compliance costs and over one million hours of time spent navigating the regulatory process.
Over 1.5 million New Yorkers are expected to benefit from these actions across all walks of life, from barbers renewing occupational licenses, healthcare workers completing burdensome paperwork, to recreational hunters who have leashed tracking dogs.
“The purpose of government should be to work for the people, not against them, and every New Yorker can agree that bureaucratic obstacles stand in the way, wasting time and money,” Governor Hochul said.
“After hearing directly from New Yorkers, we’re cutting red tape, making it easier to build housing and infrastructure, access healthcare, and cut down on burdensome fees and paperwork — delivering a more efficient government for every New Yorker.”
This first wave of regulatory reforms comes after the Governor issued a call for recommendations across all state agencies last fall. Each state agency was asked to recommend regulations or rules that could be eliminated or modified to improve the delivery of government services.
These first 50 actions were generated from that list following months of coordinated review and assessment across government.
In addition, Governor Hochul put out a call for New Yorkers across the state to submit their own regulatory reform ideas earlier this year. The state’s EXPRESS NY portal received an overwhelming response, with nearly 4,000 proposals from all 62 of New York’s Counties. State officials are now carefully reviewing these suggestions, which will inform further regulatory reform actions to be taken later this year.
These initial regulatory reform actions are broken down into four major categories: saving New Yorkers time, saving New Yorkers money, increasing access to services, and rescinding outdated regulations and policies.
