PHILADELPHIA, PA — U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick is seeking changes to federal and state regulations affecting Pennsylvania businesses, launching a 60-day process to develop reform recommendations following a meeting Thursday with industry executives, regulators and policymakers at Temple University.
The Pennsylvania Republican convened representatives from 10 industries for the Pennsylvania Red Tape Dialogues, an initiative focused on identifying permitting delays, overlapping regulatory requirements and government procedures that businesses contend impede investment, hiring and expansion.
Participants included corporate executives, small and midsize business owners, federal and state regulators, and policy specialists. Former Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey also attended.
The discussions covered manufacturing, agriculture, healthcare, defense, transportation, retail, higher education and housing, among other sectors.
McCormick plans to consolidate the recommendations into a report within 60 days and submit it to federal and state officials with authority over the regulations identified during the discussions.
His office also intends to establish a public tracking process showing which recommendations have been implemented, which remain under consideration, and which require further action.
The initiative creates a mechanism for businesses to present regulatory concerns directly to government officials, although any resulting changes would depend on action by the agencies or lawmakers responsible for the affected rules.
“Today, we brought business leaders and regulators together in Philadelphia to identify what’s holding them back and find practical solutions,” McCormick stated. “My goal is to make it easier to invest, expand, and create good-paying jobs right here in Pennsylvania.”
The discussions focused on regulatory requirements that participants consider outdated, duplicative or unnecessarily complex, particularly those affecting business development and operational decisions.
Ducey, who served as Arizona governor from 2015 to 2023, endorsed the effort while acknowledging the government’s regulatory responsibilities.
“Regulation has a role in protecting public health and safety, but streamlining burdensome rules can unlock real economic potential,” Ducey remarked.
The Philadelphia meeting follows two other economic development initiatives organized by McCormick: the Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit in Pittsburgh and the Pennsylvania Defense and Innovation Summit in Carlisle.
Those events similarly brought together business, government and institutional leaders around investment and economic development priorities.
The regulatory initiative’s next stage will shift from identifying business concerns to determining which proposed changes can advance through existing administrative authority or require additional government action.
McCormick’s forthcoming report and public progress tracking will provide the first formal measures of whether the discussions produce regulatory changes.
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