Daily Herald, Editorial

At times this year it has seemed as if the governor and Legislature were racing to outdo each other in the realms of sensibility and job creation. So far, it’s mostly talk, but the latest out of the governor’s office was the kind of talk we like to hear: Pushing state agencies to speed up their permitting processes.

The extraordinarily sluggish pace at which Minnesota agencies review and render decisions on permit requests have long been cited as a roadblock to doing business in the state. This week, Dayton issued a directive that gives agencies a deadline of 150 days to render a decision on completed applications and a month within completion of an environmental impact statement. This would affect permits for air, water, mining and feedlots, the Associated Press reported.

Because Minnesota’s politicians are unable to let even a good act go by without criticism, Republicans quickly complained that the governor’s order wasn’t substantial enough. For most business owners and managers, however, Dayton’s order is not a bad starting place, and it might actually serve to get the moribund permit process moving a bit quicker while the state waits for the Legislature to do the same in the form of a law.

The governor called his order a bridge between the current permit process and whatever lawmakers decide to enact. It’s a bridge well worth building.