Politics

Maura Healey unveils cuts to state regulations aimed at saving money for businesses, consumers

“These changes are going to save businesses time. They're going to save businesses money, and you know who's going to benefit? Customers.”

Gov. Maura Healey Adam Glanzman/Bloomberg

May 28, 2025

2 minutes to read

Gov. Maura Healey on Wednesday unveiled a slew of cuts to “unnecessary” state regulations with the goal of improving savings for businesses and consumers alike and enhancing the state’s economic competitiveness.

Healey said she directed state agencies under the oversight of the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation to review 150 sets of regulations and work with businesses to identify rules that could be scrapped because they were outdated, duplicative, or onerous.

The review resulted in the slashing of 38 different sets of regulations, representing about 25 percent of all the rules under the oversight of the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation, she said.

“These changes are going to save businesses time,” she said. “They’re going to save businesses money, and you know who’s going to benefit? Customers.”

To mark the occasion, Healey ceremonially fed prop pieces of paper labeled with the regulations through a paper shredder.

The changes range from eliminating the rules grocery stores had to follow for font size and color to the requirement that all barber shops hang a striped pole outside the business.

“State law required a barber shop to actually hang a freaking pole right outside the thing, which may be wonderful, right? It does attract, but, like, really, there was a state requirement?” Healey said beside the humming shredder.

Businesses, she noted, are still welcome to hang the classic signs for barber shops.

“But no more required barber poles out there,” Healey said.

Other scrapped regulations highlighted by the governor during the press conference included getting rid of the requirement that banks and insurance companies file paper copies of documents, instead of allowing electronic filing. Ski operators will also see updates to their required “arcane” trail signage, she said.

Healey stressed that the push to cut “red tape” is about “delivering.”

“It’s about government showing that it works, and it’s about us looking to work in continued partnership with all of you to grow our businesses,” she said. “So Massachusetts means business. That’s the tagline. That’s what we’re about.”

Healey said the round of cuts is just the first installment in the state’s mission of “Massachusetts means business,” but the governor emphasized the goal is “smart” regulations.

“We want to protect public health, we want to protect public safety, we want to make sure that shady businesses aren’t undercutting businesses that are doing things right by their customers, and that’s what today is about,” she said. “It’s about making sure that we have the right regulations, smart regulations.”

In response to a reporter’s question, Healey firmly differentiated the state’s effort from the work of Elon Musk’s DOGE at the federal level, which she described as “indiscriminate firing of a whole bunch of people.”

The effort in Massachusetts to review and improve regulations is not, she stressed, about “destroying government and destroying people with expertise.”

Rather, she said it’s about introspection and delivering to constituents.

“What we are doing here is, I think, really like constructive, thoughtful engagement with the business community,” Healey said. “What’s working? What isn’t working? Let’s get rid of what’s not working, and let’s double down on what is working. And the best way we do this is by working together.”