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DeWine, Husted announce plan to eliminate sections of Ohio Administrative Code

The sections that will be cut out account for nearly one-third of the OAC, according to a release from the Governor's office.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Outdated sections, duplicative provisions and unnecessary requirements in the Ohio Administrative Code will be eliminated under a new plan announced by Governor Mike DeWine and Lt. Governor Jon Husted on Thursday.

The sections that will be cut out account for nearly one-third of the OAC, according to a release from the Governor's office.

Ohio's Common Sense Initiative was tasked by Husted with identifying the sections that no longer are used in the OAC, which accounts for more than 5 million words and over 20,000 pages.

“This kind of reduction is truly historic,” said DeWine. “It’s another example of how Ohio is leading. When site selectors are looking for the best place to open or expand a business, they look at our regulatory code. When they do that, we want them to find useful information about operating in Ohio, not tons of red tape.”

The areas being reduced include:

Building Codes - Areas that reference national building and fire codes word for word are being reduced to only identify the differences between Ohio and other states. 

Higher Education - There are duplicative words in this section since public institutions are required to individually adopt the entire contents of university policies as regulations in the OAC and they already are required to publish these policies on their website, according to the release.

Lottery Games - CSI discovered that approximately 10 % of the words in the administrative code involve procedures for specific Ohio lottery games. The release states that Ohio is one of the only neighboring states to do this. CSI has already cut 240 rules for games that are no longer played in Ohio. These game procedures will no longer be adopted into administrative rules but will remain available through the Lottery Commission.

"There has been a lot of talk about eliminating unnecessary regulations, and we are doing it,” said Lt. Governor Husted. “This is common-sense regulatory reform that will make it easier for people and businesses to comply with the law, and it will save everyone time and money.”

Husted introduced Innovate the Code last year alongside Ohio lawmakers. According to the release, the legislation would reportedly save state agencies approximately $44 million over the next decade, as well as at least 58,000 hours of state employee time by updating administrative rules and statutes that require outdated methods of communication or in-person interaction.

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