Creating such committees is just one way the ORR is making sure the state’s regulatory environment is more simple, fair and efficient, said Rob Nederhood, deputy director of the ORR.

“The governor created our office and asked us to review all of Michigan’s existing rules,” he said. “And there’s almost 19,000 of them.”

The committees will be comprised of the stakeholders who deal with various regulations, such as Delaney Newberry, director of human resource policy for the Michigan Manufacturers Association, who is a member of the Workplace Safety Advisory Rules Committee.

“This is opening up the rule book for review, and we wanted to make sure manufacturers had a voice,” she said.

With this process of review, the government is working to serve its customers, Nederhood said. The ORR wants to make sure everyone is able to give their input.

“Reviewing the existing rules is a collaborative process,” he said. “We want the people on the ground working with the rules on a day-to-day basis giving their input.”

Although lawmakers are knowledgeable about many issues, they cannot be experts in every area, so involving citizens with invested interests in these issues will be beneficial, said Doug Roberts, director of MSU’s Institute for Public Policy and Social Research.

“(Having) somebody out there that’s actually being impacted by it speaking to it, that’s a good idea,” he said.

The committees will make sure Michigan’s regulations are up-to-date — that they do not detract from the state’s competitiveness and stay true to their original intents, Newberry said.

“There’s only one certainty, and that is change,” she said. “As things change with business and technology, we need to make sure the regulations remain appropriate.”

Stakeholders generally are knowledgeable about their areas of interest, so the ideas they put on the table are positive. But because stakeholders have self-interest in an issue, they should not be the ones to finalize the rules, Roberts said.

Each Advisory Rules committee will have 120 days to review state regulation rules and then submit to the ORR a report detailing the reform they feel is necessary. The ORR then will create their own recommendations based on the advice of the committees, which they eventually will give to Gov. Rick Snyder. It will be the governor who ultimately makes the decisions on the regulation reforms each committee suggests.

Citizens should not expect the governor to agree to all the Advisory Rules committees recommend, Roberts said. It’s good committee members will be able to give their input, but that doesn’t mean Snyder should take their suggestions as being absolutely necessary, he said.

Nederhood said the ORR likely will create another round of committees in the future to address various other regulatory reform issues.