Think excessive regulation doesn’t hamper economic growth? Economic researcher Dr. James Broughel begs to differ. According to work he conducted at George Mason University’s Mercatus Center, if state and federal regulations had stayed at 1980 levels, the U.S. economy would have been 25 percent bigger three decades later. That is $4 trillion in lost economic growth, or $13,000 for every man, woman, and child in the country.

The Oklahoma Administrative Code, Broughel notes, has more than 145,000 regulatory commands within its 9.3 million words. It would take 13 workweeks just to read it all.

But why bother? What we need to do is eliminate unnecessary regulations or rewrite those that are unnecessarily heavy-handed or complicated.

Broughel sees promising trends in other places, particularly the Canadian province of British Columbia. Leaders there set out to trim regulations by a third and wound up cutting them by 49 percent. The results have been so impressive that the Canadian national government has embarked on regulatory reform as well.

Several states have also boarded the reform train, including Missouri, Virginia and Idaho. Some require “one in, two out,” insisting that for every new regulation, two existing ones must be eliminated. Others have tasked agencies with rewriting old rules in clearer, less burdensome ways.

All these efforts are about changing the incentives within government agencies. Instead of measuring success by how many new regulations are enacted, or how many enforcement actions are taken, the mission should be to achieve positive outcomes in the least oppressive way. Benefits should always be weighed against costs. We need to work this culture change right here in the Sooner State.

The worst part of over-regulation is the damage it does to our most dynamic economic growth engines: startups and small businesses. The big guys can hire lawyers, accountants and lobbyists to navigate through the red tape. But the little guys? Too much regulation suffocates entrepreneurs – or drives them to other states.

The new administration of Gov. Kevin Stitt is very interested in regulatory reform as a part of reducing the burden of state government. Also promising is legislation in the House and Senate to create a legislative oversight and accountability office. Although designed to bring more clarity to state agency budgets and performance, the new office could also prioritize highlighting and analyzing the economic impact of agency red tape.

It’s time to cut red tape in Oklahoma.

[Ed. Note: Jonathan Small serves as president of the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs ( www.ocpathink.org).]