No More Regulation Without Representation

In 2011, agencies finalized 47 times as many regulations as Congress passed laws. This is anti-democratic. Over at The American Spectator, Wayne Crews and I show just how bad the problem of regulation without representation is by using Wayne’s handy Anti-Democracy Index. Then we suggest that the REINS Act, recently reintroduced in the House by Rep. Todd Young (no relation), would help reduce the problem:

Rep. Todd Young (R-Ind.) has just introduced the Regulations from the Executive In Need of Scrutiny REINS Act (H.R. 367), which would only require Congress to vote on rules expected to cost $100 million or more per year (perhaps recognizing that it might be a bit much to ask Congress for individual votes on 3,500-plus rules every year). It would still increase Congress’ workload — there are 224 such rules at various stages of the rulemaking process right now — but it would also increase congressional accountability. As tradeoffs go, this is a good deal.

Read the whole thing here.