The Office of Regulatory Management Makes Virginia a Leader on Regulatory Reform

In 2022, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed Executive Order 19 to create the Office of Regulatory Management (ORM) to bring consistency to the regulatory procedure and create a review process for existing regulations. The ORM has three primary objectives: reduce regulatory requirements by 25%, improve efficiency in the regulatory and permitting approval process, and increase regulatory transparency through cost-benefit analysis.

As announced at a July press conference hosted by Gov. Youngkin, the ORM is off to a great start. According to the ORM website, the Office estimates that it saves Virginia $1.2 billion annually and has reduced over 26% of the regulatory requirements in the state, already surpassing the goal of 25 percent. Additionally, efficiency and transparency have increased since the creation of the Office, with review time now 88% faster and every regulation and guidance document made available to the public.

Within the ORM, the Virginia Permit Transparency (VPT) program has increased transparency in the permitting process by providing Virginians with real-time updates on the status of their applications. A recent press release announcing an expansion of the program shared the background and effectiveness of the VPT, saying it was “developed by the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), which helped the agency reduce its average permit process times by 70%. As VPT continues expanding to include other permits and licenses issued statewide, additional agencies should achieve significant reductions in processing times as well.”

Recently, Gov. Youngkin further empowered the office by signing Executive Order 51. This executive order creates a first-in-the-nation artificial intelligence that will “scan all of the regulations and guidance documents on the books and identify ways they can be streamlined.” This will further increase efficiency in the ORM and expedite the removal of burdensome government regulations.

The Virginia reform resembles ALEC model policy An Act to Establish the Office of Regulatory Management. The model creates an ORM “to enhance and utilize transparency to reduce unnecessary regulatory burdens and ensure that new regulations are evidence-based and cost-effective.” It gives the ORM the responsibility of publishing a catalog of current regulatory requirements and reports on new regulatory requirements to ensure the best practices are used for new regulations. Nebraska is currently considering legislation similar to this ALEC model policy.

Earlier this year, the ALEC Government Efficiency (AGE) Coalition was joined by Reeve Bull, the Director of the Virginia Office of Regulatory Management. He discussed the initiatives taken on by the ORM and the ways it has benefited Virginians. The AGE serves as a forum for leaders across the country to share ideas for government waste reduction at the state level, and Virginia’s ORM accomplishes just that. For more information about the AGE coalition, visit our landing page.