CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The House of Delegates passed a bill Wednesday that supporters say will reduce the number of burdensome regulations in state government while opponents say the bill targets an issue that’s not an issue.
The bill (HB 4011) requires state agencies, when submitting a new rule or changes to an existing rule, to also identify two existing rules that could be repealed.
West Virginia has more than 100,000 regulations on the books, Delegate Ron Walters (R-Kanawha) said.
“That’s more than North Carolina has. That’s more than Maryland has,” Walters said. “We need to start clearing this stuff out.”
But Delegate Larry Rowe (D-Kanawha) said the bill is designed for nothing more than to “make work.”
“I don’t understand the purpose of the bill or the benefit of the bill,” Rowe said.
House Government Organization Committee Chairman Gary Howell (R-Mineral) said the measure will aid small businesses.
“When you have pages and pages of regulations it makes it hard on those businesses to comply to them. In some cases, we’ve seen where one regulation conflicts with another. We see it in here all the time,” Howell said.
The House passed the bill 84-14 and sent it to the Senate.