New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has signed an executive order directing every state agency to conduct what her administration calls the most comprehensive review of regulations and laws in state history, an effort that could reshape the compliance landscape for businesses operating in the state.
The order, branded a “Regulatory Reset,” requires agencies to identify outdated requirements, burdensome fees and fines, and mandated reports, boards, and commissions that no longer serve the public interest. Recommendations will move forward either through the rulemaking process or through statutory changes developed with the state Legislature, with a first wave of actions expected later this year.
Several provisions should catch the attention of compliance teams. Agencies are directed to flag any regulatory requirement that adds significant compliance costs to small businesses or individuals without a clear public benefit, along with rules that still demand mail or fax submissions, wet signatures, multiple printed copies, check payments, or notarization. The order also instructs agencies to identify penalties that can be reduced, waived for first-time non-willful violations, or replaced with cure periods designed to incentivize compliance over penalization, a framework that regulated entities have long advocated in enforcement contexts.
The initiative is also notable for how the targets were identified. New York partnered with the Recoding America Fund, US Digital Response, and Stanford University’s RegLab, which used AI-enabled tools to sift through roughly 18 million words of regulations and statutes, surfacing thousands of potential reform opportunities and cataloging fees. Agency experts will review every item the AI flagged, and the governor’s office says all final recommendations will be vetted by humans before anything proceeds.
“Too often, governments just pile new rules on top of old ones, costing time and money for citizens, businesses, and public employees,” said Robert Gordon, executive vice president of the Recoding America Fund.
The Regulatory Reset builds on Hochul’s EXPRESS NY initiative. In June, the state announced an initial round of 50 actions across 22 agencies, including simplified occupational license renewals for more than 800,000 professionals, which the administration estimates will save residents tens of millions of dollars in fees and more than a million hours annually. A public comment process earlier this year drew nearly 4,000 submissions from all 62 counties, which helped shape the review’s priorities.
