Gov. Maura Healey shreds a piece of paper that reads "Must be filed on paper" as an example of the type of regulation her administration is cutting for businesses at a press conference at the State House on Wednesday, May 28, 2025. Under the updated regulations, banks and insurance companies will no longer need to file documents on paper. Photo by Sam Drysdale | State House News Service
The Healey administration is cutting or amending a quarter of all regulations under the oversight of the public-facing Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation, an effort that officials say is intended to save businesses time and money.
The regulatory updates touch different types of businesses, including grocery stores, ski areas, barber shops, retail stores, banks and credit unions, telecommunications and electric companies, and others.
Gov. Maura Healey in January directed the office to conduct a review to make it easier to do business in the state, and she announced her plans at a State House press conference Wednesday morning.
“I asked all of our agencies to go out and look at all of their regulations and identify the ones that we could scrap, the ones that we should just get rid of. And they looked at, I think, over 150 sets of regulations,” Healey said. “Today we’re cutting down 38 different sets of regulations. That’s 25 percent of the total of all regulations.”
The biggest update affecting the state’s financial industry strikes a regulation that required banks and insurance companies to file documents by paper.
“There’s nothing wrong with paper, but that’s not where the world is,” Healey said.
One marquee change removes the requirement that barber shops have a barber’s pole outside.
“I love this one,” she said. “Who doesn’t love the striped pole outside a barber shop? Right? Super cool. We love that image. But guess what? It wasn’t meant just for decoration. State law required a barber shop to actually hang a freaking pole right outside. Which might be wonderful, it does attract, it’s nice. But like really? There was a state requirement?”
Jon Hurst, president of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts, said the state’s regulations had not been combed through in over 16 years.
“When the governor announced this, I thought, ‘This is wonderful,’ although I was a little concerned,” Hurst said, “because frankly, I don’t want to get political here, governor, but your two predecessors, one Democrat, one Republican, also announced regulatory reform efforts at the beginning of their terms. Sixteen years later. Nothing had occurred.”
He added that he was “very encouraged” that “introspection is happening with state government here in Massachusetts.”
Asked how her efforts were similar or different from President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) as she tries to cut away red tape, Healey responded, “What DOGE turned out to be, though, was just indiscriminate firing of a whole bunch of people.”
“What we’re doing here, I think, is really constructive, thoughtful engagement with the business community,” she said.
Healey later added, “Rather than destroying government and destroying people with expertise — you’ve seen all the people that Musk and company had to bring back once they realized, ‘Oh s—, I fired the wrong guy.’ That’s not what we’re about. We’re about thoughtful introspection.”
