ECOT Decision Only Worsens Ohio's Reputation for Regulatory Excess

Even before the recent Ohio Supreme Court’s 4-2 decision, which enshrined retroactive agency rule making into Ohio law; the Buckeye state was already suffering from what most experts would consider as regulatory excess.  

For example:

Brandon S. Ogden, MBA, Founder of Small Business Consultants of Ohio, said that the ECOT decision “certainly worsens Ohio’s reputation as one of the most highly regulated states in the nation with its sizeable regulatory code.”  Ogden points to a recent study from George Mason University’s Mercatus Center, which highlights the fact that the Ohio Administrative Code “contains 246,852 restrictions, 15.2 million words, and compares only to the Federal Registry in length.”

According to the Cato Institute, Ohio ranks a meager 31 out of 50 on regulatory freedom issues.  A link to the Cato Institute study can be found here.

Odgen said that “once retroactive rules are permitted under law, almost anything can happen.”  Odgen continued and stated that “small businesses are especially vulnerable to retroactive rule making because it takes away their ability to comment and press for change and they typically lack the financial resources to fight back, like ECOT was able to do.”

Read the rest of the article here.