A small group of Republicans in the House and Senate has proposed legislation that would give Congress the power to put a cap on the compliance costs federal agencies can impose on companies through regulation.
Rep. Mark Walker, R-N.C., proposed the Article I Regulatory Budget Act, which is aimed at putting Congress back in charge of what he says is a federal government that “has become unaccountable to the people that it serves.”
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, along with Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., introduced the same bill in the Senate.
“Over time, Congress has chosen, instead of to engage in hard work … relinquished more of its power to the federal agencies,” Walker said at Hillsdale College Wednesday. “The result is an out of control regulatory framework that adds approximately $2 trillion in costs … on the economy and American small businesses every single year.”
“It’s time for Congress to reassert its constitutional rule-making authority,” he added.
Under Walker’s bill, Congress would be able to pass a resolution that sets regulatory caps on each federal agency. Those caps would restrict agencies by only allowing them to impose regulations as long as the total compliance costs of those rules stay under the cap.
The costs of regulatory actions would be estimated by both the Congressional Budget Office and the Office of Management and Budget.
Under his bill, agencies would only have caps on proposed regulations for the first four years, to give them time to comply with the law. After four years, both current and proposed regulations would be covered by the bill.
Other sponsors of the bill are Reps. Dave Brat, R-Va., Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga., Mia Love, R-Utah, and John Ratcliffe, R-Texas.
Read his legislation here:
