Missouri, also known as The-Show-Me State, is known for more than just the Gateway Arch. This year, the state has shown the rest of the country how to promote innovation.
After three years of effort, in 2024, Representative Alex Riley, Senator Denny Hoskins, and Senator Travis Fitzwater introduced House Bill 1960, Senate Bill 825, and Senate Bill 894, respectively. H.B. 1960 passed the Missouri House of Representatives but stalled in the Senate while S.B. 825 and 894 were combined and passed both chambers, which established a universal sandbox.
Unlike other states with universal sandboxes, Missouri didn’t start with any industry-targeted sandboxes before going for a universal sandbox. Thus, Missouri is the first and only state to go straight from no sandbox to a universal sandbox.
What Regulatory Sandboxes Do
A regulatory sandbox allows businesses, under the observation of regulators, to develop and offer new products, services, and business models while receiving a temporary waiver from regulations inapplicable to their ideas. Missouri’s universal sandbox applies to any and all industries, including those that haven’t been thought of yet.
The sandbox:
- Allows a company to temporarily offer its product and services in a controlled environment for up to seven years;
- Requires that a company remain transparent to consumers to inform them of the services they’re exploring;
- Provides a process for entering and exiting the sandbox so consumers aren’t left high and dry;
- And establishes the universal sandbox in the Missouri Department of Economic Development.
If the trial is a success, the sandbox offers a path forward for the company to enter the open market while also guiding the Missouri Department of Economic Development on which regulations require reform or even repeal.
The sandbox doesn’t just benefit new companies, but also existing ones
The sandbox benefits both new and existing businesses. By providing businesses – both big and small, old and new – the opportunity to innovate in all industries, it’ll be interesting to see what “next big thing” will come as a result of Missouri’s universal sandbox.
Americans for Prosperity Missouri and Cicero Action proved instrumental in ushering Senate Bill 894 through their state before passing it into law. Missouri continues to invite and promote innovation in their state while helping innovative businesses avoid problematic, and often outdated, regulations. The Show-Me State joins Arizona, Kentucky, and Utah in operating a universal sandbox.
Regulatory sandboxes are an issue that Libertas Institute has researched extensively and we stand ready to help your state pursue this opportunity as we have with Missouri. For groups or legislators in other states looking to work on this issue, we’d love to help!
Senior Director of State Government Affairs
Rees builds relationships with organizations and individuals in other states to export our policy innovations and extend our work's impact.