Bypassing Laws to Impose Burdensome Regulations
Bypassing Laws to Impose Burdensome Regulation s
(Washington D.C.) – According to a new study from the Mercatus Center, federal agencies have been circumventing the legally-defined rulemaking process to impose Regulation s that can have great costs and impacts. This activity is known as stealth Regulation . The Administrative Procedure Act (APA), which compels agencies to allow the public to review and comment on proposed rules, was put in place as an accountability tool. Likewise, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) was created to oversee regulatory review of agency decisions. Neither has been able to prevent a series of evasions that agencies have employed to adopt and implement a host of new Regulation s. It’s been reported that under the current administration regulatory costs have increased by nearly $73 billion a year. These costs are imposed on families, businesses, and other levels of government – forcing them to pay the cost of government above and beyond their tax dollars. Private institutions are calling for improvements to the system to guarantee the proper revision and scrutiny for proposed Regulation s.
Daniel Garza, Executive Director of The LIBRE Initiative, released the following statement:
“The Constitution and American tradition set out a clear and transparent process for this nation to make important decisions. It requires open debate and opportunity for review by the public. When agencies are allowed to make major decisions and impose large burdens on their own, without proper review and public feedback, there’s a great temptation to overreach. The president and the Congress must act to prevent these abuses and the misuse of public funds that are greatly hurting Hispanic businesses in particular. There need to be clear limits on the powers of each agency, and lawmakers should not pass the blame for unpopular Regulation s on to unelected bureaucrats. It’s time for accountability on the regulatory process, the appropriate balance between the costs and benefits, and the use of taxpayer dollars.”
For interviews with a LIBRE representative, please contact: Brian Faughnan, 703-678-4581 or Josh Rivera, 202-763-4428.
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