LARA Living Room
Inside stories and real conversations from the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs. LARA Living Room explores how regulation works, why it matters, and the people making it happen.
LARA Living Room
Regulatory Predictions for 2026
We’re joined by Director Marlon Brown to explore 2026 regulatory trends, leadership transitions, tech-driven improvements, and insights from the Cutting Red Tape report shaping LARA’s future.
Welcome back to the LARA Living Room. I'm your host, Anastasha Osborn, and we are getting ready to turn the page to 2026, which is so crazy to say. I can't even believe that it is about to be a new year and there's a lot that's happening here in Michigan, and specifically in our regulatory world. And that's everything from new trends to technology and really how we prepare for this change while we continue to keep our mission front and center. So joining me today is going to be LARA Director Marlon Brown, and we're going to be talking about what's ahead for LARA and really how we are continuing to cut red tape. And then again, what the future of regulation might look like here in our state. So you know the drill, grab your coffee, settle in and get comfortable because you are now in the LARA living room. All right. Joining me today is LARA Department Director Marlon Brow and today we're going to be talking about what's ahead for LARA in 2026 from regulatory trends and technology to how we're preparing for the future. So, Marlon, thanks again for joining us today.
Marlon Brown:Thanks for having me. It's good to be back.
Anastasha Osborn:Yes, and this conversation is going to be kind of exciting because I feel like we've been having a lot of conversations as we are preparing to go into the new year. So I'm excited to kind of hear a little bit more insight from you and for you to share things that I might already know and then share that with our listeners as well.
Marlon Brown:Bringing the inside out.
Anastasha Osborn:Yes, exactly. So okay, let's talk about 2026. Um and kind of what do you think some of the biggest things you know shaping mission, Michigan's regulatory landscape right now? Like what can we look forward to?
Marlon Brown:Yeah, thanks for the question. When I look at what's on the horizon for regulation next year, I think about it in two buckets. The first is what we're seeing nationally, and then the second is what we're seeing at the state level. So from a national perspective, when I speak to other regulatory regulatory leaders or go to national conferences, there are two things that always pop up. One is the topic of licensure mobility. And so when we talk about that, we think about how easy or challenging it might be for people to move from state to state and still maintain their licensure. And so that brings up topics like reciprocity, compacts, and even the concept of universal licensure. And so that's something that a lot of states are confronting. We actually have some of those conversations here in Michigan. Um, there are a couple compacts that we are memberships or participating in currently. That includes the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact and also the Interjurisdictional Psychology Compact. And then we're having ongoing conversations about what reciprocity uh looks like in our state and and if there are other mobility issues that that we want to tackle.
Anastasha Osborn:And because again, I live in this world a little bit with you, but for our listeners and maybe more for like the public or for people who live outside, of you know, our bureau professional licensing, what are compacts?
Marlon Brown:No, that's a great question. Uh thanks for taking us back. So compacts are third-party validation systems where an entity will say, if you are licensed under the compact, or if you are licensed under the standards of the compact, then your license is valid in all states that are members of the compact. So in the case of the psychology compact, we're a member of that. And if you have a licensure through that compact, that means you can practice in Michigan as well as other states that are members of that compact without having to go through a separate licensure process.
Anastasha Osborn:Perfect. And then what about reciprocity?
Marlon Brown:Reciprocity is a little bit different. You still have to get licensed in that individual state, but there are some things that we would look at in that state and say, okay, there are equivalent standards where we might not need to make you go through some of the same activities uh that you've gone through in that state. So you might not need an exam, for example, um in our state if you if we have reciprocity with another state, or you might not have to submit some other documentation that you've submitted in that other state. As long as your license is in good standing, then we would take that license for face value and allow you to practice in our state. And so that's different based on each profession, but those are ongoing conversations that we're having.
Anastasha Osborn:Perfect. And I want to step back a little bit to 2025 really quickly. Um, and I think I'm pretty sure we talked about this probably one of our first episodes, but we do a word of the year here at LARA, and we will identify what the word of the year is. So can you share what the word of the year was for 2025? And does that, do you feel like that sums up what we have accomplished this year?
Marlon Brown:Definitely. So the the year for 2025 was the year of growth. And we looked at that both um in terms of how we are growing as individuals, um, how we are growing professionally as individuals, and then how we are growing as an organization. Um, I think, and when I say growth, it doesn't mean necessarily getting bigger, um, but it just means how we are growing, how we are performing our duties. And so when I look at the year of growth, um I think we've seen a lot of individuals that have taken significant steps to grow as professionals, whether it's being involved in national organizations, taking on leadership roles within the department, uh, and then also just growing in the types of services that we are uh offering the public. And so I know we'll talk about some of the different things that we accomplished this year with technology and so forth, but we are continuing to grow, do things better, uh, be more efficient, be more effective, be more timely. And so that is all a measure of how we are growing and how we are improving.
Anastasha Osborn:Yeah, and I think that's a good segue then. So, in terms of us growing, let's kind of talk about a little bit about the technology that you just kind of mentioned.
Marlon Brown:Yeah, so that's actually another key trend that we're seeing nationally. And um I can't go to a conference nowadays without talking about artificial intelligence. Uh it seems like AI is on everyone's mind. And so within the regulatory space, there's sort of three different things we're looking at with AI. One is how regulatory agencies can use it, and I'll come back to that in a second. Um, secondly, is whether it can or should be used in specific professions such as healthcare. And then third is negative uses of AI in terms of impersonating licensees, impersonating regulatory agencies. So those are all three things that we tend to look at when having the conversation about AI. The state of Michigan is starting to look at how we can incorporate AI into our work, and so we are actively piloting uh chatbots uh for various state of Michigan websites, and I know LARA is kind of in the queue for that, so that eventually we'll get to a place where someone can log on to the website, they can type a question in, and it will sort of feed into a lot of our different resources and forums and sub web pages to really help people find where they need to go. Um, in addition to that, when we talk about healthcare, is one area where AI is starting to sort of pop up and become a little bit controversial when you talk about therapy and things of that nature. Those are things that, from a national standpoint, a lot of agencies are confronting. We're looking at, you know, whether or not AI can be used or even should be used as a way to provide treatment to someone who needs counseling or therapy or something like that. And that's a space that we still have to have real policy discussions with the legislature on. And then we've we've seen already uh in partnership with our attorney general's office, um, individuals using artificially created uh, you know, licenses or letters that uh that that appear to be LARA. And so we are always trying to make sure that we inform the public that if you get a message from LARA, here's what it should look like. And in fact, I think if you go on our website, uh sometimes you'll see at the top a little notice about being aware of different scams and things of that nature.
Anastasha Osborn:Yep and we also had Brian Modelski on from the Bureau of Professional Licensing, and he was also talking about that. And and kind of they will send out regular um kind of communications to their licensees or stakeholders and letting them know, you know, just as a reminder, this is what you should expect if you are getting something from us, or if they are gonna send something out, they send out just an FYI. This will be coming out. You will get a letter from us in the mail about this.
Marlon Brown:So definitely. We get we get questions about that all the time. And so the biggest thing there is if in doubt, give us a call, reach out to the department.
Anastasha Osborn:So absolutely. Also, it just made me think about too speaking about AI. Um, I went to a communications meeting with all of the other State Departments, so all of the comms people from the other departments came in um for our like monthly meeting, and I was speaking to somebody at Treasury and they were just talking about um incorporating the chat bot. And um it was kind of fun because they were talking about what they wanted to name the chat bot. So now we not only are we also, of course, thinking of all of you know the behind the scenes of how this will work and how it can be accurate and efficient, but also the fun part of which is what do we want to name this chat bot? Yeah.
Marlon Brown:We're always talking about what we're naming something in government.
Anastasha Osborn:Yeah, but she was like, we're trying to avoid acronyms. And you know, here in state government, we love our acronyms. So I think they're trying to avoid one. So keep the lookout for when they they do launch that and see what they decide on the name.
Marlon Brown:Well, the name LARA is already taken.
Anastasha Osborn:You can't use that one. Um all right, well, let's kind of move into something that I think is can be a little bit of a touchy topic, but I think it's also important for us to talk about, which is preparing for a potential change in administration and then kind of talking about what that could look like for you know our licensees, our stakeholders, um, the our LARA team, and how we can continue our service and our mission here at LARA.
Marlon Brown:No, that's a really great topic. I know it's something that's top of mind for a lot of LARA employees and also members of the public. And when we talk about what shapes our work for 2026, that is a reality that we are confronting. And so, really, just to take a step back and give a 30,000-foot view, uh the current governor, Governor Gretchen Whitmer, is nearing the completion of her second term in office as governor, and she is term-limited, which means that she will not be able to seek re-election as governor. And so that means we will have an open election for the governorship in 2 026. So we are under a year uh from that election. It will occur in November 3rd of 2026. And so a lot of times you'll hear about the congressional midterm elections and what that means. And at the same time, we will be electing a lot of public official roles in the state of Michigan, including the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, and all members of the state legislature. And so for us, that means we have to prepare for having a different administration in the governor's office, regardless of party. Uh, we have to prepare for having a different individual in that role. And so within our department, that largely means that uh even though there may be some leadership changes, or even though there may be a slight shift in some of the policies that we could be pursuing, that largely the work day in and day out of state regulation and licensure will continue. And that is the goal is to make sure that even though there's this big change within state government or possibility of a big change within state government, that we minimize the impact that is felt to the average citizen, whether it's coming in to get a license or file for a business or LLC or what have you, that all of that work still uh continues on. And so the good thing is that government is used to this process. Every four years we prepare for the contingency of having a new Chief Executive and so we've got things that we look at. We update transition documents and we update organizational charts and and really take stock in where we are and what uh what a new Governor and what new legislative leaders might ultimately need to know if um they are moving government in a different direction.
Anastasha Osborn:Yeah. So it sounds like, I mean, for like our our team, for team LARA, not much will change day-to-day in terms of the work that they are doing or how they do their work.
Marlon Brown:That's correct. Uh the day-to-day work should remain exactly the same. Uh, you know, at some point you'll see different names on the websites and on the letterhead and so forth. But you know, for our average LARA employee and for the average citizen, I mean, hopefully everyone will vote in the election and make their voice heard. Um, but there should be no disruption at all to the services that Lara provides.
Anastasha Osborn:That's good. That's good to know. And I think that's also reassuring for our licensees and for our team LARA, and kind of something just not to be worried about as we kind of transition into that.
Marlon Brown:Not at all.
Anastasha Osborn:Um, let's talk a little bit then about um I we kind of touched a little bit on cutting red tape report. Um, this was something that we did have an episode about this as well. So if you're interested in learning a little bit more about that, I encourage you to go back and listen to it. Um, but let's talk a little bit, like reflecting on that report, what that looks like as we move into the new year, and what can people expect?
Marlon Brown:Great. Yeah, the the red tape report has been something that we've been talking about a lot this year. Um, just to kind of take a step back for anyone who has not listened to that episode, and I encourage you to do so. Um, we went through a over over a year-long process of talking to LARA staff and also surveying our licensees about ways that we can make licensing processes uh more efficient, more effective, and we received over 16,000 responses from licensees in our highest touch bureaus. So the Bureau of Professional Licensing, the Bureau of Construction Codes, and the Corporation Securities and Commercial Licensing Bureau. And from those comments, we developed a report including 77 different recommendations for us to make policy changes or at least pursue policy changes, pursue administrative rule changes, or even change some of our internal department processes, ultimately to the benefit of those that we serve and those that we work with every day. So the nice thing is that starting at the beginning of this year, the Governor in her state of the state address really talked about licensing and permitting and how we can make those processes better. And then the next day we published the cutting red tape report, and that really laid out from our perspective uh what were some of the key areas that we can work on. So I'm really excited that that we've made a lot of good progress on that. I talked about processes internal to the department that we could uh implement. There were 13 recommendations on internal processes, and um virtually all of those have been uh completed uh when we look at you know making documentation available in um alternate formats uh to people with you know differing very uh differing levels of ability or comprehension, that sort of thing. Uh we also talked about a lot of administrative rule changes, and most of those are in process, and a lot of the rulemaking is out of our hands once it goes over to the legislature, but we've been working very uh very hard to get 20 different uh recommendations implemented through administrative rule. And then the last part is statutory or actual changes in law, and there were 44 recommendations in that report that were uh involving the legislature's partnership. And what was really interesting to see was that after Lara and this administration put forward their ideas, we saw in the House of Representatives that uh Chairman Schuette and the House Rules Committee and Speaker, uh Speaker of the House, Matt Hall, put forward um their own report where they talked about areas that they felt that we could make improvements um in licensure processes. There was actually a lot of agreement between LARA and between the House. And I think the percentage was over 70% of the recommendations in both reports were similar. And so as of right now, there are about 48 bills in the House that are going through committees, being voted on, that sort of thing, uh, where we are actually looking at trying to put some of these recommendations into practice. And so it's really exciting to think like if you participated in that survey, thank you. And then just to realize, well, my feedback went to a report, and now in some cases, my feedback has become a bill, and it's actually driving policy change in the in this state, and that is kind of like the beauty of the policy making process.
Anastasha Osborn:Yeah, no, and I agree, and I was just gonna say too, what's really exciting is hopefully um the people who filled out that survey are going back, they're looking at a report because we do try to periodically update the public and let them know where we are with that report. And I know um coming into the new year, we will be putting out kind of what we call like a report card of some kind. Yeah. Kind of letting people know here's where some of these items are, some of these recommendations that came out of that report. So um keep a lookout for that because that will be posted on our website, and we'll of course email that out as well.
Marlon Brown:But um, and if I can share one more thing about that, uh, you know, a lot of other states have taken notice of how we went about this process, and you know, we have other states that said, "hey, we never even thought of our agency putting forward recommendations for the legislature to adopt." And so it's nice because within LARA, we talk about our vision of being national leaders within the regulatory community. And by doing something like this and really helping to move the needle on policy, we are doing exactly that because other states now have a template on how their regulatory agencies, their Governor's office, and their legislature can work together to streamline uh and make licensing and permitting more effective and efficient.
Anastasha Osborn:Yeah. And that has made me think of something, which was we went on to a conference um not too long ago. And at that conference, I'll let you kind of give the full name we refer to as MOLs, again, acronyms. But I think it's what Midwest Occupy. Yeah, I had a two-fourths of it. So yeah, so we just went to this conference, um, Marlon, myself, and then our chief operating officer, Courtney Pendleton. And that's honestly one of my favorite conferences. It's actually the second time I've been able to to attend. Last year we hosted. Um, but I want you to kind of tell us a little bit about what MOLS is, and then kind of tying in how we're able to kind of collaborate with other states about these different recommendations or just things that we're doing here.
Marlon Brown:Yeah, that's that's a really good point. In fact, um, again, when we look at what our work looks like in the coming year, a lot of that involves collaboration with other states. And particularly in the Midwest, it involves collaboration with our neighboring states. So it's not uncommon when I'm having a policy conversation with a legislator or with the Governor's office, I will get the question what are our neighboring states doing? What is Ohio doing? What is Indiana doing? What is Wisconsin doing? And so three years ago, uh, in partnership with some friends at the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services, so I want to give a shout out to Secretary Dan Harris and Deputy Secretary Jennifer Garrett. They decided to bring together regulatory professionals in six Midwest states, so Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. And the idea was one, just to get to know each other so that if we have an issue involving licensure cross-border or what have you, that we're not having to Google who are the leaders in those states. And so one is just to build connections with each other. The second piece was to learn from each other. And so a lot of information sharing goes on at these MOL summits, if you will, where we talk about what different states are doing, what challenges are they facing. In fact, I was telling someone there's commiseration, but then that leads to collaboration. And basically that means, yeah, we're all confronting similar challenges, but we may have different ways of trying to go about confronting those challenges. And that really becomes very helpful. And so MOLS was really great. The first year, Wisconsin hosted it. Last year in 2024, LARA got to host it here in Lansing. And this year we had the opportunity to go to Chicago, Illinois. The Illinois Department of Professional and Financial Regulation, or I might have gotten that mixed up. It might be IDFPR, Financial and Professional Regulation, hosted. So shout out to Secretary Mario Tredo and his entire team for hosting a great summit. And who knows, next year, we've got three other states that haven't hosted.
Anastasha Osborn:So we'll let them battle that one out.
Marlon Brown:We'll let them battle that out. But it's really a great forum to get together. And we we see that on broader scale. So MOLS is within the Midwest, and that's great. Six states, very grassroots, very ground level to understand what our neighbors are doing. But then there are other organizations that we participate in, such as the Council for Licensure Enforcement and Regulation. That's called CLEAR for short, and that includes regulatory entities not only in the United States, but also in Canada, in Ireland, in the UK, in Australia. And so it's a really good purview to understand not only what's happening in the US with regulation, but what's happening internationally. And then there's uh another organization that we participate in called the Federation of State uh regulate regulatory boards, Federation of Association of State Regulatory Boards, or FARB for short, because it's a mouthful. And uh that one's really good too because they actually um focus on a lot of different boards that each state will have. Uh, and then they will also focus on what's happening within the regulatory law space. And so that conference is equally uh helpful to give us an idea of what's happening around the country and how it might impact Michigan.
Anastasha Osborn:Yeah. No, I think that's incredible, incredibly helpful, I think, for people to know kind of that we are stepping outside of just the Michigan border, right? Like we are we're connecting with other states, we're connecting with other countries, we're trying to make sure that um we get as much information as we can so that way we can make the best decisions for our Michigan residents.
Marlon Brown:So yeah, nobody has a lock and good ideas. So we try to get them wherever we can and not reinvent the wheel if we don't have to.
Anastasha Osborn:Hey, we say this kind of all the time, but like we're not we're never against stealing an idea from someone else. If we can take an idea that's already implemented and roll with it or improve it and make it work for us, we will. Um, but also I think the other um saying I always hear um is never want to be the smartest person in the room. And I think that's so important, especially in the regulatory space for us and licensing. Um, we never want to think that we know everything. And I think it's super important to have these conversations um with other regulators and get their perspective and their ideas, and then like I said, collaborate and work together.
Marlon Brown:Yeah, and so really just to draw a through line between working in some of these organizations and even the red tape report, it shows that Lara is going everywhere to get good ideas, whether it's from our staff, whether it's from our licensees, or from neighboring states or even neighboring countries. So we're really searching far and wide to make sure that the type of regulatory framework that we have here in Michigan is incorporating as many best practices and best uses in case scenarios as possible.
Anastasha Osborn:Absolutely. Well, because we only want to keep these to 20 minutes, I hate to cut off the director of our department, but I do want to end as we kind of wrap up. If there's anything left that you would like to just share, as again, we're kind of thinking about 2026 and beyond. Um, anything else that you would like to share with our listeners?
Marlon Brown:Yeah, I'll just I'll just mention that one of the other areas that will define our work has defined our work in 2025 and will continue to define our work in 2026 is that goal of enhancing the customer experience. And one of the ways that we have focused on that is through our IT systems. And so this year, really excited that we have uh worked to develop and launch IT platforms in several of our bureaus. One that I launched in June of this year was our Michigan Business Registry Portal. And so that is one where if you have a business or a nonprofit or LLC, any of the work that you do to file paperwork or required documents with the state is now all online and you can search business records online. And we've also done some work to integrate a new sales inventory and purchasing system within the Michigan Liquor Control Commission. Again, this is one where we are taking legacy systems and blending three of those systems together and a new upgraded system that uh ultimately will yield benefits not only for the department but for our liquor licensees. And then one that's kind of in the works uh uh is our Bureau of Fire Services storage tank systems. And again, this is this is one that enhances our work, but it also serves as a tool for the public to know where storage tanks are in existence from both a uh you know a health and environmental standpoint and just a public awareness standpoint. And so when we launch these systems, they may not sound as exciting to the outside public, but the reality is that we are doing that with an eye to how we can make the customer experience, how we can make the citizen experience interacting with Lara much better than it either is right now or has been in the past.
Anastasha Osborn:Yeah. Perfect. Well, thank you, Marlon. I appreciate you being here so much. Again, it's always having it's always good to have a good conversation with you and kind of talk about some of these things and and get your insight, especially as the director. Um, so I appreciate it. And I know you're a busy man. So thank you for taking the time and sharing all this information with us.
Marlon Brown:Oh, it was good to be here. Thanks for the questions, and uh hopefully I'll be invited back.
Anastasha Osborn:We'll see. I'm joking. All right, thank you so much, Marlon. Appreciate it. Thank you. What a fun conversation. I always enjoy speaking with Marlon as he comes on to this podcast. And really, I can tell just from our conversation that the future of regulation in Michigan truly is bright, and honestly, it's powered by a lot of collaboration, um, innovation, and really a shared commitment to our mission, which is to protect people and to promote business. So a big thank you again to Director Brown for joining me today and for sharing all of his insights into what's ahead for the new year in 2026. And of course, thank you to our listeners for tuning in from our living room to yours. We'll see you next time.
