REINS Act to Hit House Floor Tomorrow

Tomorrow, the House will likely vote on the REINS Act. The bill would require Congress to hold up-or-down votes on all new regulations costing more than $100 million. It would add some oversight to a regulatory process that has far too little of it. Agencies can, and often do, regulate with impunity under current rules; hence the need for change. Wayne Crews and I make the case for REINS-style reform over at Forbes:

It’s actually shocking how regulators now do most of America’s lawmaking. In 2012, Congress passed 127 bills, while agencies issued 3,708 regulations. This 29-fold difference is par for the course. This “Anti-Democracy Index”—the ratio of agency rules enacted to legislation passed and signed into law—has not dipped below 12 over the past decade.

The REINS Act would restore some balance. Currently, there are 224 regulations sporting $100 million price tags in the federal pipeline—roughly double the amount of legislation on Congress’ annual plate. Congress should have to approve anything this costly.

Read the whole thing here.