Minnesota Regulatory Reform Study

Since President Ford, each president has attempted to make regulatory reform a significant part of his political and domestic agenda. The idea that extensive bureaucracy causes needless complexity for citizens regulated by government agencies is easily accepted by critics of both federal and state government. The political response to this perceived problem has been regulatory reform/deregulation. The Minnesota House of Representatives responded to this perceived problem in Minnesota by studying methods of legislative oversight and regulatory reform in Minnesota. The goal of the regulatory reform study was to examine the state rulemaking process and determine whether or not agencies are performing their functions or duties with a minimum of government interference, with maximum efficiency and with appropriate legislative oversight. The following report is a compilation of the study commissioned by the Minnesota House of Representative.