Rokita Votes to Rein in Economically Destructive Regulations

Press Release

Today Rep. Todd Rokita released this statement following this week's passage of H.R. 527, the Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act and H.R. 3010, the Regulatory Accountability Act.

"These bills are important steps towards ensuring that federal bureaucrats assess the impact of proposed regulations and take steps to ensure necessary regulations present as small a burden as possible for small businesses and job creators," Rokita said.

"Bringing more accountability to the federal rulemaking process is a top priority for small businesses, and passing the Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act is central to that effort," said NFIB President and CEO Dan Danner. "Continuing to hamper the country's biggest job creators with punishing new rules is the last thing government agencies should be doing during these tough economic times. This bill improves transparency and gives small businesses a greater stake in the regulatory process, and I thank Representative Rokita for his vote in support of these common-sense reforms."

H.R. 527, the Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act amends the Regulatory Flexibility Act and Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act to ensure bureaucrats account for the effects of new regulations on small businesses and requires review and repair of existing regulations to the same end. H.R. 3010, the Regulatory Accountability Act amends the Administrative Procedure Act to include strong cost-benefit, transparency and accountability requirements for rulemaking.

"Whether we are talking the EPA, the NLRB or OSHA, every day we see blatant examples of unelected bureaucrats making decisions with far reaching implications on issues which these bureaucrats have little or no expertise. Even worse, these decisions are often made in secrecy and with little or no oversight.

Congress must rein in the federal bureaucracy. It will take a combination of actions like these bills, aggressive oversight hearings and programs like Red Tape Rollback, an initiative I launched earlier this year in partnership with the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, to repeal and prevent regulatory overreach. It will be a long fight, but a fight critical to preserving the rule of law and rebuilding our economy," Rokita said.

H.R. 527 passed the House by a bipartisan vote of 263-159. H.R. 3010 passed the House by a bipartisan vote of 253 to 167.

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