Matt Jacobson for Governor | Business Advocates Urge Panel to Streamline Regulatory System

Business Advocates Urge Panel to Streamline Regulatory System

Date: December 14, 2009
Author: AJ Higgins, Maine Public Broadcasting

Streamline Regulatory System, Business Advocates Urge Panel

12/14/2009

Reported By: A.J. Higgins, Maine Public Broadcasting Network

If Maine is to confront the uncertainties of the new economy, it will have to streamline a cumbersome regulatory system. That was the message from several state business leaders to the "Regulatory Fairness Board," an advisory panel set up by Gov. John Baldacci, which is expected to issue recommendations to the Legislature during the next session. But some business advocates in Maine say there can be no real change until the state elects a new governor next year.

Maine often measures its business permitting process in years rather than months.

So imagine a system in which state regulators must either deny or approve operating permits within 30 days of an application.

That's exactly the kind of standard that Maine must aim for to compete with states like Florida, says Matt Jacobson of Maine and Company. Jacobson says without streamlining the application process on land use and infrastructure needs, Maine cannot expect to lure venture capitalists to invest here.

"That money isn't patient," Jacobson says. "You've heard about patient capital? There isn't any anymore, they want returns starting now and they want to remove the uncertainty. When you're in a regulatory regime that's uncertain, that's a difficult way to attract investment."

Jacobson, who is also seeking the Republican nomination for governor, spends a lot of his time at Maine and Company trying to attract new businesses to the state. He says he's working with one manufacturing company that has been trying to get permitted in Burnham for more than a year.

Most firms are not as patient, and he says offers that do come into the state are frequently accompanied by a deadline. A Scarborough company known as Plum Choice that provides Internet-based technical support is expected to generate 125 new jobs in Maine this year. But during the start-up phase, after it had announced it had chosen Scarborough for its new facility, Jacobson says the firm made it clear it wasn't going to wait long to meet state and local permitting requirements.

"You have two weeks to come back and here's our list of requirements," Jacobson says. "You have two weeks and we're going to make a decision. So you've got to get that stuff in sooner. But in two weeks we're going to decide, six weeks after that we will be up and running -- and they were."

Elizabeth Shissler, a member of the fairness board from Portland, asked Portland Chamber of Commerce spokesman Chris Hall where the state should begin if it is to start streamlining the process through which it grants or denies building and land use permits.

"If the business owners asked for reciprocity in the government and in order to hire one, you requested one change in the regulatory process, what would it be?" Shissler asked.

Hall says it all comes down to changing the culture of the state's regulatory agencies.

"A lot of times, the regulatory experience for employers -- especially small employers, but not just small employers -- feels hostile," Hall says. "It doesn't feel like they are -- frankly, it's like being pulled over for a speeding ticket. You know that bad feeling you get when you get pulled over for a speeding ticket? They have that feeling when they interact with the regulatory system. And they shouldn't. Because they're not speeding."

Hall says he understands that the governor's office and the Legislature is currently grappling with an anticipated revenue shortfall of nearly $400 million over the current budget cycle. But he hopes the regulatory fairness panel will start preparing an agenda for reform when Maine's next governor is sworn in 2011.

"I'd like to see this board make the effort to create a plan," Hall says. "I think they can outline the work for the next governor. They don't have to do all the details. But they can set the goals that we want to achieve. And if they do good work, the next governor, whoever he or she may be, can adopt that and really do some revolutionary stuff."

The Regulatory Fairness Board is scheduled to file its report to the Legislature in February.

Business Advocates Urge Panel to Streamline Regulatory System

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