Free to Prosper

A Pro-Growth Agenda for the 117th Congress

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Free to Prosper: A Pro-Growth Agenda for the 117th Congress highlights specific steps lawmakers can take to rein in overreach by executive branch agencies, reduce the costs of federal regulations, and unleash America’s entrepreneurial, wealth-creating potential to aid the post-pandemic economic recovery. These policy ideas and solutions can help foster the economic growth, prosperity, and liberty for individuals to chart their own path in a world of empowering technological advances. Learn more below about CEI’s proposals, backed by legal, economic, and policy analysis, that aim to help lift the burden off of taxpayers, bring much needed accountability to the federal government, and help us meet the nation’s challenges.

Table of Contents

  • Regulatory Reform
    • Plan Regulatory Reform for the Long Term
    • Reform the Rulemaking Process
    • Account for and Curb Regulatory Dark Matter
    • Improve Disclosure by Requiring Agencies to Publish Regulatory Report Cards
    • Establish a Regulatory Reduction Commission to Repeal Outdated and Obsolete Rules
    • Impose Automatic Sunsets for All New Regulations
    • Require Congress to Vote on Significant New Regulations
    • Publish a Federal Regulatory Budget
    • Abolish Counterproductive Antitrust Laws
  • Medical Technology and Health Care
    • Permanently Repeal Federal Rules that Hinder or Forbid Telemedicine and Telehealth
    • Reject Price Controls for Prescription Drugs
    • Promote Real Health Care Price Transparency by Giving Patients More Incentive and Responsibility for Health Care Choices
    • Modernize the FDA’s Rules for Evaluating New Drugs by Expanding Flexibility in Adaptive Clinical Trial Designs
  • Technology and Telecommunications
    • Protect Internet Freedom against Burdensome Net Neutrality Mandates
    • Protect Privacy and Cybersecurity by Securing Private Information from Undue Government Prying
    • Empower the Market to Protect Cybersecurity
    • Protect Consumer Privacy
    • Modernize Regulation of Television and Media
    • Update Copyright for the Internet Age
    • End Unnecessary Media Ownership Restrictions
    • Discourage Antitrust Actions against Technology Companies
  • Energy and Environment
    • Reject the Green New Deal and Similar Central Planning Schemes
    • Oppose Carbon Taxes
    • End Federal Energy Tax Credits
    • End Federal Efficiency Standards for Consumer Products
    • Prohibit Use of the Social Cost of Carbon to Justify Regulation or Influence Project Reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act
    • Reclaim Congress’ Authority to Determine Climate Policy
    • Reject the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol or Its Legislative Equivalent
    • Sunset the Renewable Fuel Standard
    • Streamline the Federal Permitting Process for Infrastructure Projects
    • Address Unaccountable Environmental Research Programs
    • Improve the Quality of Government-Funded Research
    • Eliminate U.S. Funding for the International Agency for Research on Cancer
    • Allow Free Markets in Waste Disposal from Recycling to Landfilling and Incineration
    • Deploy Rational Science-Based Policies for Medical Plant Sterilization
  • Banking and Finance
    • Bring Accountability to the Unaccountable Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
    • Oppose Regulatory Overreach in Financial Services
    • Allow Financial Service Providers to Offer Consumers Innovative New Services through the Growth of FinTech, Crowdfunding, Blockchain, and Cryptocurrency
    • Address “Too Big to Fail”
    • Allow Banks and Credit Unions to Serve Legal Marijuana Businesses
  • Food, Drugs, and Consumer Freedom
    • Protect Consumers’ Access to Tobacco Substitutes and Vaping Products
    • Strengthen Cooperative Federalism by Removing Cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act
  • Labor and Employment
    • Reform the Fair Labor Standards Act
    • Harmonize the Definition of “Employee” across Government
    • Reform the Worker Classification Process
    • Provide Employees Freedom to Choose among Different Types of Compensation
    • Reform the National Labor Relations Act and National Labor Relations Board
    • Clarify the Definition of “Joint Employment”
    • Enable Voluntary Union Membership
    • Rein in State Occupational Licensing Laws
    • Reform the CARES Act’s “Labor Neutrality” Provision
    • End Government-Subsidized Union Activity
  • Trade
    • Do Not Normalize the Trump Tariffs and Work to Free Trade, Not Manage It
    • Reclaim Congress’ Tariff Authority
    • Reengage the WorldTrade Organization
    • Repeal or Reform the Jones Act
    • Avoid, or at Least Minimize, Trade-Unrelated Provisions inTrade Agreements
    • Promote Liberalization in China through Constructive Direct and Multilateral Engagement
    • Pass a United States–United KingdomTrade Agreement
    • Pass a United States–European UnionTrade Agreement
  • Transportation