April 9, 2020
Deregulation of the Administrative State
As efforts are underway to combat the Coronavirus pandemic, state and federal governments have waived nearly 200 regulations to provide relief to businesses and personnel. Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) is keeping a running list of the various easements.
Recently, Mike Lindell, founder of My Pillow, joined the President at the White House Rose Garden to highlight his efforts. Because the federal government is allowing non-medical manufacturers to create medical devices, Lindell is able to keep his employees working by creating masks. His company is creating 50,000 masks per day to be distributed to hospitals and staff who need them the most.
Even craft beer breweries and alcohol distilleries have stepped in to create hand sanitizer. Their creativity has provided an essential product to their local communities thanks to deregulation.
These examples show the successes of just one deregulation. One of President Trump’s campaign promises was to cut two regulations for every new one. At the end of last year, he had accomplished cutting 8 ½ regulations for every one his administration proposed. While the latest list may not be added to his count since they are only temporary, we can certainly applaud his efforts to scale back government overreach during this crisis. Below are some highlights from ATR’s list. Keep in mind, businesses, medical institutions, and certain facilities were not allowed to do these things before the pandemic occurred.
- States are allowed to take responsibility for tests developed in their states.
- Under certain circumstances, tests manufactured for Coronavirus purposes will not need clearance from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
- After someone is tested for Coronavirus, their test can be sent to a non-Center for Disease Control (CDC) lab to lessen the backlog of processing.
- Tests for Coronavirus can be performed outside of hospitals in places like homes or drive-through testing sites.
- Hospitals can increase their workforce by hiring more temporary personnel from the local community and from across state lines.
- Non-practitioners have been granted a wider scope of practice so they can order tests and prescribe medicines.
- Hospitals can provide additional benefits to their medical staff such as providing meals, laundry services, and child care services.
- Certain paperwork that medical professionals often become bogged down with has been eased in order to spend more time with patients.
- Non-hospital spaces are allowed to be used for patient care and quarantine sites.
- The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has loosened their regulations on businesses so that they can manufacture items quickly and freely without any massive fines.
It is easy to look at some of these and wonder why some regulations were enforced in the first place. As we can see, federal government stepping back allows the American people to become more engaged with their communities and more innovative with their businesses. Eagle Forum encourages the Trump Administration to continue their deregulation efforts not only during the time of the Coronavirus pandemic but long-term as well.