CEI Supports Regulatory Integrity Act and the SCRUB Act
This week, the U.S. House of Representatives is slated to vote on H.R. 1004, the Regulatory Integrity Act, introduced by Congressman Tim Walberg (R-MI), and H.R. 998, the Searching for and Cutting Regulations that are Unnecessarily Burdensome (SCRUB) Act, introduced by Congressman Jason Smith (R-MO).
Competitive Enterprise Institute fellow and regulatory policy expert Ryan Young released the following statements supporting these bills.
“Federal regulations cost the U.S. economy nearly $2 trillion every year—more than half the size of the federal budget. Rolling back expensive, burdensome, and redundant rules is one of the most important economic issues currently facing the country. But a lack of transparency is holding back genuine reform efforts. Rep. Walberg’s Regulatory Integrity Act is valuable because it would ensure the rulemaking process is open and transparent and help prevent agency abuses, which in recent years have ranged from regulations on everything from water to the Internet. Agencies need to own their actions and the Regulatory Integrity Act would help keep them accountable.”
“Regulation is one of the biggest obstacles to entrepreneurship, innovation, and consumer satisfaction. The goal of the SCRUB Act is to ‘achieve a reduction of at least 15 percent’ in cumulative regulatory costs. With that goal in mind, and given that federal regulations now cost nearly $2 trillion per year, a successful commission could save the American people nearly $300 billion per year. Pruning regulations back to more reasonable levels should be an urgent priority for lawmakers from both parties.”