Rounds Introduces RESTORE To Permanently Address Regulatory Reform

WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) today introduced a resolution to permanently address overregulation in America. The bipartisan Regulation Sensibility Through Oversight Restoration (RESTORE) Resolution would establish a Joint Select Committee to conduct a comprehensive review of rules enacted by federal agencies and analyze the feasibility and options for creating a rules review process in congress. The committee would also hold hearings on the effects of these rules and recommend ways to reduce the regulatory burden on the American people.

“The cost of federal overregulation affects every single American,” said Rounds. “It is a hidden tax that for too long, has been dictated by unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats in Washington rather than elected representatives who our founders intended to be the voice of the people. The regulators have essentially become a fourth branch of government and de-facto legislative body.  It’s regulation without representation, and it’s wrong.

“The cost of federal regulations last year was nearly $1.9 trillion, far more than Americans paid in individual federal income taxes. This compliance cost is crushing the can-do American spirit that founded our nation, settled the West, won two world wars and put a man on the moon. And it’s killing the American dream. RESTORE seeks to reinstate the people’s role in the rulemaking process and provides a path to eliminate the bad ones. It offers a permanent solution to overregulation in America and restores the representative democracy our founders envisioned.”

Original cosponsors include Sens. Joe Manchin (D- W. Va.) John Thune (R-S.D.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Shelley Moore-Capito (R-W. Va.). Because it is a resolution, if passed by the House and Senate, RESTORE would be implemented without requiring the president’s signature.

Background:

The RESTORE Resolution would create a Joint Select Committee consisting of members of both the Senate and House of Representatives. The committee would:

• Analyze the feasibility of a permanent joint rules review committee to
  • Review all rules causing an annual impact on the economy of $50 million or more before the rule is enacted; and
  • Delay the imposition of rules for review to the Permanent Joint Rules Review Committee.
• Analyze the feasibility of requiring each federal agency to submit each proposed rule over $50 million to the appropriate committees of Congress for review before the rule is enacted.
• Conduct a systematic review of rules enacted by federal agencies;
• Hold hearings on the effects of current rules and look for ways to reduce the regulatory overreach;
• Submit to Congress recommendations for a process to sunset overly burdensome and unnecessary rules, as well as a process for federal agencies to submit rules to Congress for review before they are enacted;
• Submit to Congress recommendations for ways to reduce the financial burden these regulations place on American families;
• Recommend whether Congress should overturn rules by enacting a joint resolution of disapproval; and
• Submit a list of rules that should be repealed.

By the Numbers: Federal Regulations Today

• 41: Number of states that currently have a rules review process that gives state legislatures a final say in the rulemaking process. (source: National Conference of State Legislatures)
• $1.88 trillion: Estimated annual cost of federal regulation and intervention in America annually. (source: Competitive Enterprise Institute)
• $1.4 trillion: Estimated amount Americans pay each year in individual income taxes. (source: Wall Street Journal)
• 2010: The year federal regulations in America passed 1 million. (source: Chief Executive)
• 10th: If regulation was a country, it would have the 10th largest economy in the world, ahead of India and just behind Russia. (source: Competitive Enterprise Institute)
• $15,000: The average cost of economy-wide regulations per household, which is 29% of an average family budget. (source: Competitive Enterprise Institute)
• 5.7 million: Hours spent by Americans on paperwork so far in 2015. (source: American Action Forum)
• 77,687: The number of pages in the Federal Register in 2014. The Federal Register is the official journal of the federal government of the United States that contains government agency rules, proposed rules and public notices. (source: Washington Free Beacon)
• 16 to 1: The ratio of regulations issued by unelected bureaucrats compared to new laws enacted by congress each year. In 2014, regulators published 3,554 new rules compared to 224 new laws. (source: Competitive Enterprise Institute)
• 24,000: Number of public notices and uncounted “guidance documents” annually in the Federal Register. (source: Competitive Enterprise Institute)
• 48: Percent of federal regulations stemming from the top six rulemaking agencies: Departments of Treasury, Commerce, Interior, Health and Human Services, Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency. (source: Competitive Enterprise Institute)
• $60 billion: The combined budgets of federal regulators in 2014. (source: George Washington University)
• 29 percent: Average additional amount small businesses pay per-employee in regulatory costs compared to others. (source: Competitive Enterprise Institute)
• $10,585: Average cost per employee for small business with fewer than 20 employees to comply with federal regulations. (source: Competitive Enterprise Institute)
• $7,755: Average cost per employee for businesses with 500 or more employees to comply with federal regulations. (source: Competitive Enterprise Institute)
• 38 percent: Approximate percentage of federal resources dedicated to regulations in 2008. (source: Chief Executive)
• 86 percent: The number of millennial voters who favor trimming regulations. (source: American Spectator)