Pennsylvania Senate Slashes Red Tape

Senate Republicans passed two bills to protect all Pennsylvanians from overregulation.

Harrisburg, Pa., June 10, 2025 — Today, the Pennsylvania Senate passed two pieces of legislation promising extensive regulatory reforms in a 27-23 vote. These bills would require legislative approval of costly new rules and automatic three-year reviews of economically significant regulations.

Modeled after the federal Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act, Senate Bill (SB) 333 would require legislative approval for any regulation that exceeds an annual burden of $1 million, referred to as “economically significant regulations.” Also, SB 444 creates an automatic three-year review of “economically significant” regulations, ensuring that existing regulations remain beneficial.

These provisions protect Pennsylvania small businesses from unilateral action by government bureaucrats that impose billions of dollars in costs and stifle economic growth.

Pennsylvania voters emphatically support this type of broad regulation reform. Eight out of ten Pennsylvanians support legislative oversight of regulations, and more than two-thirds of voters favor regulatory reviews.

Elizabeth Stelle, Vice President of Policy for the Commonwealth Foundation, issued the following statement in response:

“Pennsylvania desperately needs comprehensive regulatory reform like SB 333 and SB 444. Currently, Pennsylvanians must comply with more than 164,000 state regulations. With that many rules, it’s not surprising that businesses, and subsequently workers, keep leaving the commonwealth for states with less bureaucratic overreach.

“For a prosperous Pennsylvania, this trend cannot continue. We must set a higher bar for the most onerous regulations through checks and balances on bureaucrats, with feedback from Pennsylvanians.  

“Unlike Gov. Shapiro’s approach of waiving permits for big corporations, these reforms benefit all Pennsylvanians. Universal, comprehensive reform is the best way to attract investment and keep our home-grown talent in Pennsylvania.”

Kevin Kane, Director of Legislative Strategy for the Commonwealth Foundation, continued:

“While Governor Shapiro touts his nothing-burger deals with large corporations, Senate Republicans have advanced substantive policies to make Pennsylvania more competitive.

“Making Pennsylvania more attractive to business requires extensive reform—not just picking winners and losers at corny press conferences. Companies like Fairlife have left our state because Shapiro has failed to deliver on his campaign promise to make Pennsylvania better for business. 

“If Shapiro wanted to improve Pennsylvania business climate, he would drop the gimmicky slogans and work with the legislature to deliver genuine regulatory relief to all businesses in Pennsylvania.”

For more information about regulatory reform in Pennsylvania, please visit the Commonwealth Foundation website.

Commonwealth Foundation experts are available for comment. For media inquiries, please contact Giana DePaul at gmd@commonwealthfoundation.org or (215) 859-0384.

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The Commonwealth Foundation transforms free-market ideas into public policies, empowering all Pennsylvanians to thrive.