Bill Would Freeze Major Regulatory Actions Until Unemployment Rate Falls
A bill introduced in the US House of Representatives 17 February aims to halt the passage of any regulations that have economic costs of more than $100 million until the unemployment rate falls below 6%.
The Regulatory Freeze for Jobs Act of 2012 (HR 4078) would also prevent any regulatory actions that creates inconsistencies with another agency, "raise novel legal or policy issues", or "materially alter the budgetary impact of entitlement, grants, user fees or loan programs."
The wording of the proposed legislation could apply to any of the proposed user fees acts before Congress right now, including the Prescription Drug User Fee Act, Medical Device User Fee Act, Generic Drugs User Fee Act or the Biosimilar and Interchangeable Products User Fee Act.
While Griffin notes that "H.R. 4078 makes exceptions for agency actions needed to address […] imminent threats to health and safety," it seems unlikely that the proposed user fee acts-or numerous other regulatory actions taken by the agency-would meet this standard.
The bill was introduced by Rep. Tim Griffin (R-AK) and co-sponsored by 14 other Republican members of the House, and now moves to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the Committee on the Judiciary.
Read more:
H.R.4078 -- Regulatory Freeze for Jobs Act of 2012 (Introduced in House - IH)