    |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Remarks from Judy Peppler -- President, Qwest-Oregon December 6, 2004 -- Leadership Summit 2004 What
is the objective in this area? The
objective is to make business regulations and permits faster, simpler, cheaper
and easier without lowering standards. The original Oregon
Business Plan said: Oregon will create and maintain an efficient, simple, and
streamlined permitting system that makes it easy to start and expand
businesses while still protecting public regulatory goals. State and local
governments will update or eliminate conflicting, cumbersome, and redundant
permit processes. Governor Kulongoski
subsequently signed Executive Order 03-01, which says: to enable the private
sector to more easily do business, and to encourage economic investment and
opportunity in Oregon, state government must streamline its regulatory
processes and eliminate duplicative practices. Why
is this important? It’s important
because Oregon’s regulatory system should help deliver a high quality of
life that benefits business and our citizens But we need to do more to ensure that regulation is smart and efficient, because as businesses compete in a more global competitive environment, we need to make sure the regulation is effective but doesn’t unnecessarily diminish a businesses’ ability to be competitive and quick to market. So
what have we achieved in this area over the last year? First, the Governor
created the Office of Regulatory Streamlining.
This was a top priority of the initial Business Plan - to focus state
government on streamlining regulation and creating a structure to do that. The office issued its first report to the governor in July. That report can be found online at www.streamline.oregon.gov. The office also
created an online license directory. It
has been online for over a year
now and businesses have access to
information about more than 1,000 state licenses, permits, and certifications
through this directory. It allows
for searches by key words, topic, agency, and much more. The site has received
tens of thousands of inquiries each month and has been very successful. In addition, the
office undertook and completed its first business climate satisfaction survey
in September 2003. The survey
found that employers were more satisfied than not, but there was much room for
improvement The feedback resulted
in enhanced training for regulators. Over
600 regulators have attended one or more training sessions to improve
rule-writing work. One dozen of the most
significant business regulatory agencies have put customer service improvement
plans in place over the last year. They
are due for updates at the beginning of 2005 and will make adjustments based
on feedback they’ve received And hundreds of
individual projects have been completed or are under way at state agencies.
An example of a completed project is
“Trucking Online” which allows for licensing, registration and tax
payment transactions for commercial trucking businesses to be done by computer
now, not at a DMV office. Another was adoption
and implementation of simplified testing requirements for industrial
electrical equipment, which still maintains the safety standards desired while
saving Oregon businesses hundreds of thousands of dollars per year by
eliminating redundant testing costs. A couple of projects underway
include an effort by Oregon OSHA to provide a simple, basic set of core
worker safety requirements for all employers, to make safety regulation
easier to understand. And OLCC,
DEQ, and the Department of Agriculture are exploring the feasibility of a
combined licensing system for small retailers like convenience stores. There are also many
local initiatives and projects in
process, including the work the Portland Bureau of Development Services has
done to significantly improve regulations, processes and timelines. Finally there are a
couple of legislatively-created and governor-appointed advisory committees
that are continuing to work on these issues.
HB 3120 created an Advisory Committee on Agency Rules Streamlining and
HB 2011 created the Advisory Committee on Regulatory Permitting. Both of these committees are due to report this month on
their progress and recommendations. In addition, the
Governor created the Advisory Committee on Government Performance and
Accountability, including a regulatory streamlining subcommittee on which I
and others served. Our report has
already been issued and many of the recommendations are in process. There
are many folks who deserve credit for the work that has occurred in this area First,
the governor for his leadership in moving forward to make changes by issuing
an Executive Order and providing sustained focus and communication on the
importance of the work. The
legislature, for initiating legislation in 2003 and demonstrating ongoing
interest during the interim. And
certainly the regulatory agencies directors and employees who have provided
both “Top down” focus and “Bottom up” energy and commitment to the
work. Also,
we are pleased that local government leaders have demonstrated an increasing
understanding of the need to act to improve and streamline processes and
regulation on the local side as well. Finally,
the business community for participating in providing suggestions, input and
continued focus and energy on how government and business can work together to
find the win/win solutions that allow both of us to be successful. So
what is on the 2005 Agenda? The
hundreds of state projects that are underway will continue. In
addition, some state and local government partnership pilots will be
developed. The Office of
Regulatory Streamlining will work with Assoc. of Oregon Counties and the
League of Oregon Cities to develop pilot projects in communities around
Oregon. The objective of these
pilots will be to identify areas where local regulations and permitting can be
streamlined or improved and to share those successes and best practices with
other local governments. On-line
licensing will continue to expand. There
will be a major move by state agencies and some local governments to put many
more licensing transactions online. Multi-agency
projects will be developed where multiple agencies dealing with similar topics
will work together to try to streamline efforts and eliminate redundancy.
Examples include the combined licensing for small retailers I mentioned
earlier, a combined Business Registration system across the Sec. Of State’s
office, Revenue, Employment, and Workers Comp, and others. We
also expect dozens of streamlining bills to move forward in the 2005
legislature. Over 30 bills, with
a wide range of topics have been identified where statutory changes are
needed. Most are small changes
but some are larger in significance. So
a lot of good work has occurred with even more to come next year.
Now I know you are all wondering at this point how you can help with
this work: You
can support the legislative package which will be found online at
www.streamline.oregon.gov
And
you can continue to provide your tips and suggestions by contacting the Office
of Regulatory Streamlining at 503 947
7061 Thank you for your attention. Back to Highlights from Leadership Summit 2004
|