Senators Introduce Regulatory Commission Bill

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CEI’s approach to regulatory reform has an overarching theme: It is not enough to get rid of this or that harmful regulation. For the benefits to last, there must be system-level reform to the rulemaking process that keeps generating those rules. Institutions matter. One of the best of those institution-level reform ideas now has COVID-19-focused legislation at the ready: the independent regulatory reduction commission.

Senators James Lankford (R-OK), Ron Johnson (R-WI), and Rob Portman (R-OH) have introduced the Pandemic Preparedness, Response, and Recovery Act (PPRRA). The House version was previously introduced by Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC). The bill would establish an independent commission to identify regulations harming the COVID-19 response, and compile a package for Congress to vote on.

Wayne Crews and I have a statement supporting the idea here.

The idea is not new. Former Sen. Phil Gramm introduced a version of the idea back in the 1980s. The Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) commissions that closed unneeded military bases had four rounds in the 1990s, and saved billions of dollars. CEI has been promoting the idea for more than a decade, most recently in a Washington Examiner op-ed and  #NeverNeeded paper. Several other legislative versions of the regulatory BRAC commission have been introduced by lawmakers from both parties.

The time to act is now. If House and Senate leadership, not wanting to make any waves before the election, do not act, then the PPRRA should be reintroduced in the next Congress, and on and on until it passes. Regulatory reform is a long game, but with people hurting from COVID-19 and a tough recovery ahead, this is an idea that Congress should act on now.