I voted "Yes" on H.R. 185, the Regulatory Accountability Act of 2015.
H.R. 185 would modify the federal rule-making process by requiring agencies to consider new criteria, including alternatives, the scope of the problem the rule is meant to address, and costs and benefits of the proposal and its alternatives. It would create additional thresholds and criteria for regulations to be deemed "major" rules and "high-impact" rules -- those rules likely to cost the economy more than $100 million or $1 billion a year.
The bill requires agencies to adopt the least costly rule proposal considered during the rule-making process, but a more costly rule could be adopted in cases where the benefits justify the costs, if the agency explains that the reason for doing so is in the interest of public health and welfare.
The cost of federal regulations on households and our economy is significant. These rules now have an estimated burden of nearly $2 trillion, roughly $15,000 per household. In fact, the cost of federal regulations is $300 billion higher than the combined price tag of federal income and corporate taxes.
The Regulatory Accountability Act updates the nearly 70-year-old rulemaking process and improves how agencies construct those rules that have the most significant impact on jobs and growth. Today's regulatory environment is burdensome and economically significant rules have spiked in recent years. Some of these rules are certainly hindering growth and job creation in upstate New York. I supported this bill to ensure that the most expensive new rules are better-designed to accomplish their objectives without causing undue damage to the economy.