Michigan State Sen. Ed McBroom, R-Vulcan, second left, looks on as President Donald Trump signs an executive order to reduce regulatory burdens on Wednesday. (Facebook.com/WhiteHouse)

WASHINGTON — Michigan State Sen. Ed McBroom was among a group of state and local elected officials who were invited to join President Donald Trump for the signing of two executive orders at the White House on Wednesday.

The executive orders are part of the president’s commitment to reducing regulatory burdens on individuals and small businesses.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to join President Trump at the White House as he took action to lessen the burden of bureaucratic overreach, which the Upper Peninsula knows all too well with the difficulties we’ve experienced in getting County Road 595 built,” said McBroom, R-Vulcan. “I am hopeful these executive orders will have the effect of promoting economic development, make it easier to do business, and help create jobs, not only in the U.P., but throughout our state and nation.”

The orders are designed to improve transparency when government agencies enforce guidance on how best to comply with a particular law or regulation.

The White House framed the executive orders as protecting Americans from government overreach.

Federal regulations can take years to enact, but guidance on how to follow a law can be released much sooner.

One executive order requires agencies to put their guidance on easily searchable websites.

The other instructs agencies to offer opinion letters to businesses that request them, so people can learn how to comply with the law.

Trump says it will be an agency’s duty to educate small businesses about regulatory changes. He complains that guidance documents are often a “back door for regulators to effectively change the law.”

The Marquette County Road Commission has been in a lengthy battle with the federal Environmental Protection Agency over the agency’s decision to deny approval for the building of County Road 595. The road would improve travel times and significantly save on fuel costs for drivers in the region. It would also help remove dozens of trucks a day from traveling near schools and residential areas.

Trump on Wednesday signed both the “Promoting the Rule of Law Through Transparency and Fairness in Civil Administrative Enforcement and Adjudication” executive order and the “Promoting the Rule of Law Through Improved Agency Guidance Documents” executive order.