Changing Wyoming government culture a goal of Regulatory Reduction Task Force

“We’re really working on the culture in our agencies, to help businesses navigate the law and do it in a way that promotes exceptional customer service, really holding Wyoming out as that business-friendly environment,” DeLancey said. “We want to make things easier, cut through red tape … this is an important conversation we are having.”

State officials can only be as effective as the laws that bind them, and often take their lead from the elected officials when it comes to culture, task force co-Chairman Sen. Mike Gierau, D-Jackson, said.

“In a rush to help and please, [government] follows the lead of elected officials. Sometimes … things get a little balled up. But I firmly believe that there are a lot of great agencies in the state.

“They want to do well by taxpayers, who they talk about as their clients,” Gierau said.

Enter the Regulatory Reduction Task Force, which was directed last spring to examine rules, regulations, statutes and processes that affect Wyoming’s mining, agricultural and construction industries. The goal was to “reduce and streamline regulations to continue making Wyoming a business-friendly state,” according to a Dec. 7, 2023, memo from Gierau and task force co-Chairman Rep. Bob Nicholas, R-Cheyenne, to Gov. Mark Gordon.

“The overarching thing that I’ve heard from listening to people about regulatory reduction [is] that the solution is more about culture — culture of government and how government works,” Gierau said.

Initially an idea from Gordon’s office, the task force was designed to look at ways to streamline government, making it more business-friendly.

“The Legislature jumped onboard with open arms, because, boy, this is a good idea,” Gierau said.

The task force met three times in the last year and forwarded several bills to legislative committees. At least two will make it to the session, which began Feb. 12. Gierau called the two bills “clean-up” bills, meaning they will delete or update outdated law. Michael Pearlman, communications director in the Governor’s Office, added that both are examples of “how important” the task force’s work is to Wyoming.

House Bill 12-Wyoming dairy marketing act-repeal would remove outdated law from the books by repealing the Wyoming Dairy Marketing Act of 1971. House Bill 13-Flow-through pools exemption would allow for an exemption of “flow‑through pools,” or artificial or partially artificial pools that depend on the natural flow of water to maintain adequate water quality, from the Public Pool and Spa Health and Safety Act.

“Working collaboratively with the Department of Agriculture, the task force identified two areas where they could achieve efficiency and eliminate unnecessary redundancy,” Pearlman said.

Looking forward, Pearlman said the governor’s office and the task force hope to work collaboratively on “sustainable solutions to the state’s housing shortage, engaging with community and business leaders across the state to fully understand the current barriers to sensible housing development.”

Last summer, the Regulatory Reduction Task Force began investigating various housing issues, but the complexity of the issue required more time than members had to meet deadlines for forwarding specific draft legislation in time for the 2024 budget session.

“The governor hopes that the upcoming interim will be an opportunity to continue exploring creative statewide solutions,” Pearlman said.

According to Gierau, the task force will likely explore broader topics, including land use and energy regulations, during the next interim.

The task force would like to promote local control, Gierau said, as well as a “culture of yes” within state government.

“We have to find a sweet spot where we don’t want to control or direct outcomes, but instead [direct] that culture thing. I would love it if we could figure out a way to get department heads to a place where they feel they can really do their job,” he said. To do that, state government needs to be given the tools, and staff, to work effectively.”

Elected officials should empower department heads, “get good ones, pay them well and …when they mess up, stand beside them,” he said.

Ultimately that would lead to a better experience for the customer, or the Wyoming taxpayer, he said. For example, a business owner who goes into the Department of Environmental Quality to get a drilling permit would not feel like the effort was a chore, although “federal regulations are raining down on” DEQ, Gierau said.

To effectively respond to an increase in federal regulations, while still meeting Wyoming business demand for permitting, Gierau said an office like DEQ must be adequately staffed.

“You will see something in the [2024] budget that the task force can take a little credit for: When the director of DEQ came in to Appropriations and said if we gave them six new hires, they could turn permits twice as fast, [we put] new employees at DEQ in the budget,” Gierau said. “This is tough for some of my very conservative friends. But we need to ask, ‘Did I grow government or did I help businesses?’”

During the final task force meeting before the session, on Nov. 9, Nicholas suggested the group also set aside funds to hear from experts during the interim when considering bill drafts on housing issues like accessory residential units-permits, property development exactions and building permit notice requirements.

“None of us are experts on ordinances and land-use plans,” Nicholas said. “I think it would be useful for this committee to have a better understanding of ordinances, land-use plans and how they work, and do some background investigative work so that we can become better educated in making decisions.”

He suggested the 2024 budget set aside an appropriation for the task force to retain one or two experts to help educate members on similar complicated issues, as well as gather input from local government in Wyoming municipalities and counties.

Gierau agreed. He said that Gordon’s office, through work with the Harvard Growth Lab, has identified that Wyoming is “over-regulated when it comes to housing.” He hopes to hear from the Wyoming Association of Municipalities and the County Commissioners Association in the upcoming year, with the goal of presenting legislative options during the Legislature’s 2025 general session.