Passage of REINS Act a Victory for Accountability and Common Sense

Press Release

Today, U.S. Representative Diane Black (R-TN), celebrated passage of H.R. 10, the REINS Act, a bill that reins in out of control federal regulations by requiring a vote in Congress on any federal regulation with an economic impact of $100 million or more.

"Passage of the REINS Act through the House is a big victory for accountability and common sense," said Black. "With this landmark legislation, Congress can provide a check on the federal bureaucrats who write rules and regulations where the check didn't exist before. Coming from the state of Tennessee, where the legislature writes a bill, agencies implement it and the language comes back to the elected representatives to be approved, I was incredibly disappointed that the federal level lacks that kind of accountability. Instead, the current system has allowed Washington bureaucrats to write regulations in a bubble, disconnected from the American people at large and the businesses their regulations affect. With the REINS Act, which I proudly cosponsored, all that will change."

According to the Small Business Administration, federal regulations cost our economy $1.75 trillion per year, and according to the Obama Administration's December 2010 report on federal regulations, more than 4,200 regulatory actions are currently under development by federal agencies. In 2011, the Obama administration is expected to propose more than 200 regulations costing over $100 million each, seven of which will cost the economy more than $1 billion each.

"Regulations that ensure clean air, clean water and safe food are vital to our society," said Black. "However, in recent years Washington has become a red tape factory, forwarding regulations that not only lack common sense, but oftentimes have the potential to cripple an entire industry. It is important that regulations be subject to a cost-benefit analysis, and through Congress, now the American people will have more of a say in what regulations are coming out of Washington."

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