Legislation that would compel federal agencies to implement regulations in the cheapest way possible is heading for the Senate despite President Obama’s threat to veto the measure if makes it to his desk.
The Regulatory Accountability Act would force agencies to base all new regulations on hard evidence, weighing potential costs of the rule and those of any “reasonable alternatives.” It would also raise standards for the public input agencies must collect before issuing new regulations.
The Obama administration issued a statement that “strongly opposed” the bill within hours of the president’s calls for “sensible regulations” and bipartisanship in his State of the Union address.
Lawmakers in the House passed the measure by a bipartisan vote of 250-175, with many of its supporters lauding the bill as a step forward for improved transparency in government.
Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Minn., the bill’s lone Democratic co-sponsor, said the measure would prevent special interest groups from manipulating the regulatory process to bend laws in their favor.
Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., said the bill would reduce “the effects of excessive government regulation” on American families, which he said claimed $15,000 from every household in 2013. Goodlatte, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, introduced the bill.
But the White House pushed back on the measure, arguing it would actually increase the cost of regulations and bog down the process with needless uncertainty.
“The Regulatory Accountability Act would impose unprecedented and unnecessary procedural requirements on agencies that would prevent them from efficiently performing their statutory responsibilities,” Office of Management and Budget officials said in a statement of administration policy.
Obama’s opposition to the bill contrasts with his previous stances on regulatory reform.
In 2011, the president initiated a “lookback” effort that encouraged agencies to examine existing rules and determine if any of them are obsolete.
The new bill would require agencies to publish all proposed regulations in the Federal Register, describe the problem the rule is designed to address, and cite the legal authority under which the regulation would be formed.
Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, is expected to introduce the bill in the Senate soon, a congressional staffer said. The measure is expected to enjoy bipartisan support in the Senate, the staffer said.
Go here for the bill’s text.
