Tusk Ventures Calls on States to Improve Regulatory Environment for Start Ups

NEW YORK, June 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Tusk Ventures, the nation's first political strategy firm focused solely on helping startups navigate the political, regulatory hurdles that come with disrupting entrenched industries, unveiled a new initiative to improve the regulatory environment for start-ups. The concept, "Innovation Lanes," re-designs the state and local regulatory process to accelerate innovation and job creation, while ensuring that the process remains thorough and comprehensive.

In today's current regulatory environment, existing laws never contemplated the types of advances and technologies new startups would bring.  As "laboratories of democracy," state and local governments represent an opportunity to reexamine our thinking and create a nimbler approach for the next generation of great ideas and employers.

Under the Tusk initiative, state and local governments would choose several new technologies every year and create an alternative, expedited review process led by their offices that allow startups to move forward more efficiently than they do today when they are all too often slowed down by regulation.

"Startups have new ideas, technologies, and platforms that offer new ways to do things, but all too often, existing laws and governing statutes end up making it nearly impossible for these new companies to do business in many states," said Bradley Tusk, founder and CEO of Tusk Ventures. "Bureaucracy and fear of the new only costs the state jobs and economic opportunity. Innovation Lanes was born from the idea that that the single most important thing that leaders can do is create the right environment for innovation to flourish and generate jobs."

Here's how the Innovation Lanes concept would work:

• The Governor would grant permits to a handful of promising companies to demonstrate their effectiveness; permits could be offered with some degree of regularity (e.g. every quarter) based on the merits of the concept, potential risks, and an assessment of "letter" vs. "spirit" of the laws or rules that would otherwise restrict innovation.
• Permits would be granted by a state's Innovation Lane advisory board which the Governor would appoint and would be made up of a combination of business, education, technology, and policy leaders.
• Innovation Lane permittees would benefit from emergency rules that would permit their lawful operation, subject to revocation for a demonstrated public safety risk;
• Instead of oversight by a slew of different regulatory agencies, each Innovation Lane permittee would have the advisory board evaluate the safe and lawful operation of their business, and jointly establish proposed changes to existing rules based on their observations;
• At the end of one year, the permittee and the advisory board would suggest one of two options:
  • Propose regulatory changes (industry-wide) and grant continued regulatory relief in the interim
  • Terminate regulatory relief and identify changes and requirements for the permittee to continue operations  

In New York City for example, the Bloomberg administration created New Business Accelerator Teams (NBATs) that established a single point of contact and accountability between a would-be restaurateur and the monolithic New York City permitting and permission process. By creating a more responsive, transparent process that met the needs of their user base, the NBATs allowed restaurants in New York City to open an average of 72 days faster, while retaining the same standards of safety and accountability for restaurateurs.   

About Tusk Ventures

Tusk Ventures is the first political strategy firm focused primarily on helping startups navigate the political, regulatory, and media hurdles that come with reshaping entrenched industries. Tusk's investment professionals and in-house team of political and regulatory experts partner directly with high-growth companies entering highly regulated sectors and work with them to accomplish their goals through direct advocacy, campaign management, narrative development and strategic execution.

SOURCE Tusk Ventures