What is Regulatory Policy?
Definitions:
- OECD:
Regulatory policy is about achieving government's objectives through the use of regulations, laws, and other instruments to deliver better economic and social outcomes and thus enhance the life of citizens and business.
- 360factors:
Governments influence and control the markets using different tools. There’s the monetary policy, in which the governments affect market movements by changing the influx and availability of currency. There are fiscal policies, which define what type of business activity will be encouraged and supported. Then there is the regulatory policy – where the government creates administrative law and regulatory policy to regulate business activity. Regulatory policy is much more direct than either fiscal or monetary policy, because it explicitly restricts and permits business activities and defines limits of acceptable processes and strategies.
- Wikipedia (regulatory economics):
Regulation is generally defined as legislation imposed by a government on individuals and private sector firms in order to regulate and modify economic behaviors.[1] Conflict can occur between public services and commercial procedures (e.g. maximizing profit), the interests of the people using these services (see market failure), and also the interests of those not directly involved in transactions (externalities). Most governments, therefore, have some form of control or regulation to manage these possible conflicts. The ideal goal of economic regulation is to ensure the delivery of a safe and appropriate service, while not discouraging the effective functioning and development of businesses.
- Britannica:
Regulation has a variety of meanings that are not reducible to a single concept. In the field of public policy, regulation refers to the promulgation of targeted rules, typically accompanied by some authoritative mechanism for monitoring and enforcing compliance.
In political economy, it refers to the attempt of the state to steer the economy, either narrowly defined as the imposition of economic controls on the behaviour of private business or, more broadly, to include other governmental instruments, such as taxation or disclosure requirements. The two meanings share a focus on the state’s attempt to intervene in private activities.
A third definition of regulation moves beyond an interest in the state and focuses on all means of social control, either intentional or unintentional. This understanding is commonly applied in anthropology, sociolegal studies, and international relations because it includes mechanisms such as voluntary agreements or norms that exercise social control outside the reach of a sovereign state and not necessarily as an intentional act of steering.
In a sense, all government policies and agencies involve regulations of some sort. This applies to all aspects of state and local policy including education, health and human services, economic development, criminal justice and natural resources.
The following chapter in the Fiscal Size-Up covers those agencies that aren't placed in a different specific chapter. The principle reason for this is that they regulate private industries. For various reasons, each has become regulated by the state. The impetus can be either a desire by outside forces to impact their practices, or internal forces in order to protect themselves.
Each agency has its own unique history.
Check them out - you might find yourself dealing with a few, if you haven't already.
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- FSU: Chapter 11- Regulatory Agencies.
Regulatory agencies are the state agencies charged with the regulation of a wide range of industries and occupations in the state. Regulated industries include insurance, workers’ compensation, health-related occupations, non-health-related occupations, telecommunications, electric utilities, securities, and pari-mutuel racing. Th e appropriations and indirect costs for 18 of the regulatory agencies are supported by fees generated from the industries and occupations they regulate. Th ese agencies are subject to a legislative requirement that fee-generated revenues cover the cost of agency appropriations and the other direct and indirect costs appropriated to other state agencies.
These are the agencies listed in this chapter. I've linked you to the information provided by each by the Sunset Review Commission.
- State Office of Administrative Hearings. PURPOSE: Conduct fair, objective, prompt, and efficient
administrative hearings and alternative dispute resolution
proceedings for contested cases at agencies that do not employ an
administrative law judge to arbitrate such disputes. (p.475)
- Office of Injured Employee Counsel. PURPOSE: Assist, educate, and advocate on behalf of the injured employees of Texas. By statute, the Office of Injured Employee Counsel (OIEC) is attached administratively to the Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation.
- Department of Insurance. PURPOSE: Protect insurance consumers in Texas by regulating the insurance industry and promoting a stable and competitive market. Th e Texas Department of Insurance focuses on access to affordable insurance, promoting insurer financial strength, reducing losses due to fi re, and regulating the workers’ compensation system.
- Office of Public Insurance Counsel. PURPOSE: Represents the interests of insurance consumers in Texas
in regulatory matters involving automobile, residential property,
and title insurance, and participates in rule-making proceedings for
life and health insurance.
- Department of Licensing and Regulation. PURPOSE: Serve as an umbrella occupational regulatory agency
for the licensing, certifi cation, and enforcement of regulatory
statutes involving diverse businesses, industries, general trades,
and occupations.
- Texas Racing Commission. PURPOSE: Enforce the Texas Racing Act and its rules to ensure the
safety, integrity, and fairness of Texas pari-mutuel racing.
- Texas State Securities Board. PURPOSE: Protect Texas investors by ensuring a free and competitive
securities market for Texas, increasing investor confidence,
and encouraging the formation of capital and the development
of new jobs.
- Public Utility Commission. PURPOSE: Protect customers, foster competition, and promote
high-quality utility infrastructure in the state’s electric,
telecommunication, and water and wastewater utility industries.
- Office of Public Utility Counsel. PURPOSE: Ensure the availability of utility services at fair and
reasonable rates by providing representation for Texas residential
and small-business utility consumers in proceedings conducted
by the Public Utility Commission, the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, the Federal Communications Commission, and state
and federal courts.
- Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners
Health Related Licensing Agencies. PURPOSE: Health-related licensing boards and commissions
regulate certain occupations and industries within the state of
Texas. Agencies ensure licensee qualifications and standards are
met and that quality of care is maintained through licensing and
enforcement programs.
These Include:
- Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council.
- Board of Chiropractic Examiners.
- Texas State Board of Dental Examiners.
- Funeral Service Commission.
- Health Professions Council.
- Texas Medical Board
- Texas Board of Nursing
- Optometry Board
- Board of Pharmacy
- Executive Council of Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy Examiners
- Board of Examiners of Psychologists
Other Regulatory Agencies
- Board of Plumbing Examiners.
- Board of Professional Geoscientists.
Changed
- Board of Professional Land Surveying. "Incorporates House Bill 1523, Eighty-sixth Legislature, 2019, resulting in the transfer of the regulation of land surveyors to the newly
established Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors, a self-directed, semi-independent state agency outside of the state
Treasury, and the abolishment of the Board of Professional Land Surveying."
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Random, but relevant, links:
- Cato Institute: Regulatory Freedom in Texas.
- Texas Occupations Code.
- Office of the Governor: Regulatory Compliance Division.
