The Obama Administration's Regulatory Agenda: Many Overdue Rules Need to Be Finalized to Fulfill Legislative and Public Safety Promises
Jan 23, 2013
Each year, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is supposed to publish two agendas of planned rules and at least one regulatory plan summarizing economically significant rulemakings likely to move forward in the near future. In 2012, the Obama administration skipped the spring agenda entirely and did not publish the fall agenda until December, likely because of the elections. The plan that finally emerged contains some positive measures but does not go far enough to significantly advance consumer, workplace safety, or environmental protections.
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Anti-Regulatory Bill Would Limit the SEC's Ability to Protect Investors
Nov 6, 2012
A pending anti-regulatory bill that targets independent regulatory agencies would significantly curtail the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) ability to protect investors from financial fraud and other economic hazards. The Independent Agency Regulatory Analysis Act of 2012 (S. 3468) would require independent agencies to conduct formal cost-benefit analyses for all significant rules and would allow the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) to review those analyses. This would cause lengthy delays in implementing the financial oversight contained in the Dodd-Frank law.
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Underestimating the Benefits of Public Protections
Oct 10, 2012
In a September article, OMB Watch highlighted how difficult it is for everyday Americans to find information on the benefits of the standards and safeguards that protect and improve our quality of life. In this piece, we describe how agencies identify benefits and assign a monetary value to them. If agencies either underestimate or undervalue the benefits of a proposed safeguard, it could be rejected by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), and important protections could be delayed for years, leaving the health and safety of American workers and families at risk.
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New Report Examines the Regulatory Tsunami That Wasn't
Sep 27, 2012
WASHINGTON, Sept. 27, 2012—Business interests and their allies on Capitol Hill have escalated their rhetoric over the number of regulations coming out of the Obama administration. OMB Watch today released a report, The Regulatory Tsunami That Wasn't, that shows little difference between the Obama administration and past administrations in their overall level of regulatory activity, nor is there evidence that a "flood" of new rules will be unleashed after the November elections.
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Highlighting the Benefits in Cost-Benefit Analysis
Sep 10, 2012
Over the past several years, the conversation about regulatory protections that safeguard the environment, worker safety, and the health and welfare of American families has focused almost exclusively on the monetary costs to affected businesses rather than on the benefits they provide to everyday citizens. Conservatives repeat false or exaggerated cost estimates and overblown anti-regulatory rhetoric. And too often, news articles fail to report on the benefits of the standards and safeguards they are criticizing, making for a very one-sided public discussion.
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Sponsors of the Independent Agency Regulatory Analysis Act Try to Slip Bill in Under the Radar
Sep 5, 2012
The Independent Agency Regulatory Analysis Act (S. 3468), introduced on Aug. 1 by Sens. Mark Warner (D-VA), Rob Portman (R-OH), and Susan Collins (R-ME), may appear to be just another item in the string of anti-regulatory legislation considered, but not enacted, by the 112th Congress. Unfortunately, because it boasts both Democratic and Republican co-sponsors, it appears to be heading straight to mark-up within the Senate's Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC).
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Vote Imminent on House Bill that Would Shut Down Safeguards
Jul 24, 2012
The House will vote later this week on the misleadingly titled "Red Tape Reduction and Small Business Job Creation Act." The bill is a brazen attempt to shut down the system of public safeguards that protects our air, water, food, consumer products, and economy and would do nothing to create jobs.
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Searching for a Regulatory "Tsunami" in Calm Seas
Jul 10, 2012
Has the Obama administration unleashed a regulatory "tsunami" as House and Senate Republicans charge? Has this administration issued more significant final rules than past administrations? Contrary to the rhetoric of the business community and its allies on Capitol Hill, hard research shows the answer is an unambiguous no.
read in fullBig Business Suing to Stop Notices Informing Workers of Their Right to Organize
May 15, 2012
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other industry representatives are blocking a new rule that would better inform workers of their legal rights. The rule, issued by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in August 2011, would inform employees of their right to organize and bargain collectively. The rule would add to the existing framework of policies to protect workers' right to know, but business lawsuits are preventing it from taking effect.
Worker-Killing Regulatory Delays
May 1, 2012
April 28 marked Workers’ Memorial Day, a day set aside to honor and remember workers who have been killed on the job. The majority of these deaths are the result of inadequate health and safety standards on the job or inadequate enforcement of the worker safety standards that do exist. It’s time for our elected and appointed officials to recognize that delaying workplace health and safety protections can have deadly consequences.
