House Continues March Toward Regulatory Reform

Continuing last week’s passage of the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act and the Midnight Rules Relief Act; this week, the House passed a new measure, HR 5, the Regulatory Accountability Act, that combines six reform measures that individually have been passed in the House during previous Congresses but not acted on by the Senate.  Each of these measures forms a separate title under the larger Act.
Introduced by House Judiciary Committee Chair, Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), the bill is designed, “Not to eliminate regulations, but make them work for the American people.”  As written, among other things, the measure would:

• require all Federal agencies to select the lowest-cost implementation option allowable for all rulemaking and consider impacts on small businesses
• call for posting 100 word summaries of all proposed rules, in plain language, on the Internet
• repeal earlier law that allowed courts to defer to agencies’ interpretations of laws
• prevent the Administration from implementing new rules without first alerting the public and providing at least six months for comment
• require all agencies to submit monthly reports that summarize all proposed rules, their status in the rulemaking process, and estimates of economic effects of any rule expected to be finalized within 12 months.

No word, as yet, as to whether the Senate will support similar legislation.