Cutting Red Tape: Governor Hochul Unveils First Wave of Regulatory Reforms in Her ‘EXPRESS NY’ Initiative

50 Actions Across 22 Agencies To Modify or Eliminate Regulations and Policies Following Call for Recommendations Last Fall

Reforms will Save New Yorkers Tens of Millions of Dollars a Year in Fees and Costs and Over 1 Million Hours a Year of Time; Over 1.5 Million New Yorkers Expected to Benefit

EXPRESS NY Public Submission Portal Received Nearly 4,000 Proposals From New Yorkers To Make Government Work Better; Further Reform Actions Will be Implemented Later This Year

Governor Kathy Hochul today announced the first series of state actions to improve government service delivery through her EXPRESS NY initiative, with 50 actions being taken across 22 state agencies. All told, these actions are projected to save New Yorkers tens of millions of dollars in unnecessary fees and compliance costs and over one million hours of time spent navigating the regulatory process. Over 1.5 million New Yorkers are expected to benefit from these actions across all walks of life, from barbers renewing occupational licenses, healthcare workers completing burdensome paperwork, to recreational hunters who have leashed tracking dogs.

“The purpose of government should be to work for the people, not against them, and every New Yorker can agree that bureaucratic obstacles stand in the way, wasting time and money,” Governor Hochul said. “After hearing directly from New Yorkers, we’re cutting red tape, making it easier to build housing and infrastructure, access healthcare, and cut down on burdensome fees and paperwork — delivering a more efficient government for every New Yorker.”

This first wave of regulatory reforms comes after the Governor issued a call for recommendations across all state agencies last fall. Each state agency was asked to recommend regulations or rules that could be eliminated or modified to improve the delivery of government services. These first 50 actions were generated from that list following months of coordinated review and assessment across government. In addition, Governor Hochul put out a call for New Yorkers across the state to submit their own regulatory reform ideas earlier this year. The state’s EXPRESS NY portal received an overwhelming response, with nearly 4,000 proposals from all 62 of New York’s Counties. State officials are now carefully reviewing these suggestions, which will inform further regulatory reform actions to be taken later this year.

These initial regulatory reform actions are broken down into four major categories: saving New Yorkers time, saving New Yorkers money, increasing access to services, and rescinding outdated regulations and policies.

Saving New Yorkers Time

• Streamlining the occupational licensing renewal applications by simplifying the renewal application for the over 800,000 New Yorkers who have occupational licenses with the Department of State, including barbers, cosmetologists, real estate professionals, notaries, security guards and other licensed professionals.
• Accelerating affordable housing projects by streamlining the evaluation process used to determine which New York State Homes and Community Renewal-funded projects should undergo state historic preservation.
• Streamlining nurse aide training by adjusting the Department of Health’s training hour requirements, making it easier for those seeking to become a certified nurse aide to complete their training and help to address workforce shortages.
• Streamlining medicaid paperwork, reporting, and digitizing workflows to save time and money for healthcare providers and hospitals by updating Department of Health regulations. This will allow clinical staff to spend less time on duplicate forms and more time on patient care.
• Increasing efficiency and flexibility in scheduling of Division of Human Rights settlements by updating regulations to remove language that is unduly restrictive as to scheduling and timing of settlements, leading to faster resolution of cases and reducing the costs of prolonged litigation.
• Modernizing Thruway advertising rules by eliminating the permitting requirement for on-premises advertising aligning Thruway regulations with NYSDOT and federal standards, reducing administrative burdens for both the Thruway Authority and nearly 100 roadside businesses, who now face one less hurdle in advertising business activity taking place on their properties.
• Streamlining the victim compensation process by updating the Office of Victim Services regulations and operations including allowing for digital document submission, adding rideshare as an eligible compensable expense, increasing the burial reimbursement cap, and removing the requirement that a crime must be reported to law enforcement for a victim to receive services, making it easier for victims to receive the help and compensation that they are entitled to.

Savings New Yorkers Money

• Reducing barriers for prefabricated housing moves by eliminating a $25,000 bonding requirement for the transportation of manufactured homes between 14 and 16 feet wide, making it easier and more affordable to deliver prefabricated homes throughout New York.
• Eliminating fees for commercial measuring devices by repealing a $100 application fee for the use of a commercial weighing or measuring device in New York State, approving these devices free of charge, eliminating an unnecessary processing fee.
• Eliminating fees for leashed tracking dog licenses by repealing a $25 application fee for leashed tracking dog licenses, helping to lower costs for recreational hunters and other New Yorkers seeking to receive this license.
• Lowering financial barriers for building nursing homes byreducing the requirement for nursing homes to contribute 25 percent equity to construction projects. Reducing this requirement will lower barriers for nursing homes to undertake construction projects and modernize their facilities across the state.

Increasing Access to Services

• Modernizing the MWBE Program to streamline certification and boost outcomes for MWBEs, including a new Professional Declaration of Eligibility application to fast-track review of applications for licensed professionals (e.g., architects, engineers, attorneys), cutting anticipated review time for those applications by roughly 50 percent.
• Expanding telehealth in assisted living by clarifying that telehealth may be used in Adult Care Facility and Assisted Living settings after an initial in-person assessment, increasing access for specialists and doctors for seniors across the state and eliminating the need for fragile residents to travel for every routine appointment.
• Fast-tracking certification processes for detox and rehab facilities by modernizing regulations to allow providers to offer both detoxification and inpatient rehabilitation care under a single new certification, reducing unnecessary discharge and re-admission cycles for patients.

Rescinding Outdated Regulations and Policies

• Repealing 15 outdated labor regulations that are no longer in effect, but can cause confusion for regulated communities including small businesses, advocates, and workers. This includes removing a discriminatory 1950s-era rule that required restaurants to get a special permit to allow women to work after midnight; removing outdated rules around truck and bus operators’ time sheets, including rules specifying that timesheets must be “five and one-quarter inches by seven and one-half inches;” and removing outdated safety and contamination standards from the 1970s, including outdated rules around coin-operated machines and allowing for waste to be disposed of at the end of each day by burying or burning.
• Rescinding “Y2K bug” guidelines at the Office of Information and Technology Services by removing unnecessary guidelines that are no longer relevant to modern software systems.