Columbus, OH – On Wednesday, The Buckeye Institute released a new policy brief, A Sandbox for Everything: A Universal Approach to Help Innovators, urging Ohio lawmakers to cut more regulatory red tape and “expand Ohio’s ‘regulatory sandbox’ to include all industries.”

“Regulatory reforms, such as Senate Bill 9, have helped Ohio cut some of its government red tape, but state policymakers can do more,” said Logan Kolas, an economic policy analyst at The Buckeye Institute and the paper’s author. “By expanding its regulatory sandbox and leading the way in creating a state-to-federal sandbox reciprocity program, Ohio will remain competitive in the innovation race.”

Kolas outlined three improvements Ohio policymakers can take to cut more regulations and attract more innovators to the Buckeye State. 

• Open Ohio’s sandbox to innovators across all regulated sectors. This includes agriculture, drone technology, insurance, medicine, and legal services. Specifically, Ohio could create the nation’s first sandbox for artificial intelligence to help resolve conflicts between AI innovation and old-school regulatory codes.
• Allow indefinite participation in Ohio’s sandbox. This will attract participants who are otherwise worried that their two years in the sandbox will expire before necessary regulatory changes are adopted. 
• Create a state-to-federal sandbox reciprocity program. Ohio should lead the way in coordinating a state-to-federal sandbox program and ensure that any Ohio sandbox participant is automatically enrolled in federal sandbox programs.

Kolas continued, “Ohio’s regulatory reforms have proven successful, and those successes offer policymakers a path for even more regulatory improvements.”

# # #