Washington state auditor's office recently published Regulatory Reform: Communicating Regulatory Information and Streamlining Business Rules as part of a broader performance audit of the state's regulatory system. The report finds that "Regulatory information on state websites is incomplete, and not all agency websites are easy to use" and "Agencies could improve their rule streamlining processes. Several agencies regularly reviewed their rules using specific criteria and a documented process, but agencies should do more to measure the results of streamlining efforts." Among other recommendations, the report calls for the creation of "a single, one-stop portal for all business transactions with state government," to guarantee that "all regulatory agencies provide complete and accurate information for all business licenses and permits on their websites," and require all agencies to "adopt streamlining processes." The next report will examine application processing times.
Regulatory Reform: Communicating Regulatory Information and Streamlining Business Rules.