Hearing Highlights Confusion Caused by "Legalese" in Regulation

Writing regulations in a way that is clear and easy to understand will save the government, taxpayers and regulated communities time and money, according to witnesses testifying on Mar. 1 before the House Government Reform Committee's Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs.

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Testimony on Reauthorization of the Paperwork Reduction Act

Testimony of J. Robert Shull, Director of Regulatory Policy, before the Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs of the House Committee on Government Reform

on "The Paperwork Reduction Act at 25: Opportunities to Strengthen and Improve the Law"

Mar. 8, 2006

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Download the prepared statement and appendix.Testimony of J. Robert Shull, Director of Regulatory Policy, before the Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs of the House Committee on Government Reform

on "The Paperwork Reduction Act at 25: Opportunities to Strengthen and Improve the Law"

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New PART Scores Showcase More Contradictions of Program

The president's recent budget, released in early February, contained another round of federal program assessments produced by the Office of Management and Budget using the administration's Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART). As in past years, this new round of PART scores and associated budget requests call into question the value and purpose of PART ratings, which appear to have little logical and no discernable link to budget requests.

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Report, Announcement on IRS Program to Curb Partisan Activity by Charities, Religious Groups

On Feb. 24 the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released its much-anticipated assessment of its program created in 2004 to enforce the ban on partisan election activity by charities and religious organizations. The report found that nearly 75 percent of organizations investigated had violated the ban. At the same time, the agency released guidance that includes detailed examples based on the types of situations that led to investigations in 2004.

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Roundtable Analysis of the Silver Ring Thing Lawsuit Settlement

Mar 7, 2006 by Guest Blogger

The Roundtable on Religion and Social Policy has put out an analysis of the ACLU v. Leavitt (HHS) case. Make sure to check out our Watcher (coming out tomorrow!) for a summary of the case.

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Lott Wants Amendments Today, Dems To Offer 17 Amendments

Mar 7, 2006 by Guest Blogger

From National Journal:

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Senate Rules Committee Passes Process Reforms

Last week, the Senate Rules Committee and the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee marked up separate versions of lobbying and congressional ethics reform bills, starting the ball rolling in the Senate on reform after the scandals surrounding former lobbyist Jack Abramoff and former Rep. Duke Cunningham (R-CA). The two bills are expected to be combined.

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Appeals Court Agrees: No Right to Sue under DQA

Mar 7, 2006 by Guest Blogger

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals -- that bastion of liberalism -- has agreed with the district court decision in the Salt Institute case that the Data Quality Act does not create a legally enforceable right. Accordingly, the court held, "[A]ppellants have not alleged an invasion of a legal right and, thus, have failed to establish an injury in fact sufficient to satisfy Article III." Slip op. at 6.

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Time Running Out to Raise Debt Limit

Mar 7, 2006 by Matthew Madia

Secretary of the Treasury John Snow sent a letter to Congress Monday saying he has taken "all prudent and legal actions” to stay under the $8.184 trillion debt limit and again strongly urged passage of an increase “immediately." Congress, which must act or else they could default on payments to bond holders or fail to make other scheduled government payments, will most likely pass a debt limit increase. This will mark the fourth time the debt limit has needed to be increased under President Bush. If this new hike is approved, the limit will have jumped by $3 trillion since he took office.

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Little Progress on Chemical Security

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) concluded recently that, while some progress has been made on chemical security, hurdles and delays remain, including a lack of clear authority for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to establish requirements for chemical facilities. The GAO reported its findings in a report released Feb. 27 on the current status of chemical security at DHS. The GAO also found DHS resistant to involving the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in a review of inherently safer technologies that might reduce risks posed by chemical plants.

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