Cutting the Red Tape (Editorial)

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Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders last week signed an executive order requiring state agencies to review their permitting processes and then submit a plan detailing how they’ll speed up those processes.

“This Executive Order puts people before paperwork, adding transparency and speed to our permitting process to ensure major economic development projects aren’t held up by unnecessary red tape,” Sanders said.

Under the order, agencies, where possible, must establish clear, publicly available timelines for all major permits and licenses, develop “one-stop” online application portals, expand concurrent reviews across agencies, and provide applicants with real-time status updates and single points of contact.

Her move got support from Randy Zook, chief of the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce, but also from House Democratic leader Andrew Collins, who said, “I’m all for it.”

We’ll add our voices to the chorus. Yes, government regulation is needed to protect the health and safety of our citizens, but far too often the permitting process gets in the way not only of economic development but of efforts to help the very citizens the government is seeking to protect. A sensible, efficient, transparent state permitting process with clearly defined timelines benefits Arkansas businesses and entrepreneurs large and small.