To the editor:

The June 14 article regarding Sen. Brownback’s initiative to reduce state regulations focused on the immediate lack of detail instead of what is important — the intent. Clearly, Sen. Brownback’s intent is to identify and eliminate regulations that have outlived their usefulness.

It is difficult for anyone to point to obsolete statutes and regulations without digging deeply into the law books but, based on my experience, they do exist. It is not practical for a new governor or, in this case, Sen. Brownback, to know specific statute or regulations. It is, however, enough to know they are on the books and to have a commitment to purge our law books of obsolete or unnecessarily prohibitive statutes and regulations.

The heads of state agencies that the next governor will appoint will know the agency’s laws the best. A directive by the governor to them to identify and eliminate obsolete or unnecessarily prohibitive laws, along with a dedicated person to oversee that the work gets done, will go a long way to ease the regulatory burden on business and increase government efficiency