Proposed Bill Subject Some Regulations to Vote by Legislators

A bill proposed by Rep. Tom Latham (R-IA) would seek to subject "significant regulations" to an up-or-down roll call vote by both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

"Washington has buried hardworking American small business owners under a mountain of regulations and mandates, crushing their ability to grow, invest in our communities and create jobs," Latham said. "My legislation will bring accountability into the regulatory process and dispel the uncertainty plaguing American families, farmers and businesses."

The bill, The Regulatory Accountability and Economic Freedom Act, would also form a "Red Tape Reduction Commission" to reduce "burdensome, redundant, outdated and costly" regulations and mandate that regulatory agencies conduct economic analysis of every proposed regulation.

The bill defines "significant" regulations in various different ways:

• `an annual effect on the economy of $100,000,000 or more, adjusted annually for inflation;
• a major increase in costs or prices for consumers, individual industries, Federal, State, local, or tribal government agencies, or geographic regions;
• significant adverse effects on competition, employment, investment, productivity, innovation, or on the ability of United States-based enterprises to compete with foreign-based enterprises in domestic and export markets; or
• significant impacts on multiple sectors of the economy

Any such regulation would have to be submitted to both houses of Congress 90 days before promulgation.

Read more:

Regulatory Accountability and Economic Freedom Act of 2012

LATHAM LEGISLATION WOULD PROTECT SMALL BUSINESSES FROM JOB-DESTROYING FEDERAL REGULATIONS