UPDATE: Three Reasons the REINS Act Must Be Stopped (Again)

If passed, the REINS Act would require congressional approval of all major rules, potentially endangering the most important safeguards to our health, safety, environment, and economy.

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House Majority’s Last-Ditch Effort to Undermine Public Protections, Award Corporate Giveaways

With only a few workdays remaining in the current congressional session, House leaders have yet to address many important proposals. However, instead of focusing on the nation’s top priorities, the House majority plans to press ahead with its anti-regulatory, pro-industry agenda.

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Congressional Briefing Debunks Anti-Regulatory Myths Behind "Reform" Bills

Last week, members of the House hosted an expert panel discussion to set the record straight on recurring anti-regulatory myths and dangerous legislative proposals. Aptly titled "Anti-Regulatory Myths: What Regulatory Critics Don't Tell You," the congressional briefing highlighted the importance of much-needed safeguards and debunked the most common misconceptions surrounding the regulatory process and the impacts of rules.

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Government and Public Protections Under Attack in 2011

Big Business lobbyists and their allies in Congress waged systematic attacks against regulations in 2011, attempting to undermine the protections that keep our environment clean, our products and workplaces safe, and our economy prosperous. Underlying the charge against basic protections is an attack on government's role in safeguarding the general welfare of its citizens and in addressing the negative effects of irresponsible corporate behavior.

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Anti-Regulatory Attacks Coming in Both the House and Senate

While most Congress watchers have been focusing on the work of the Super Committee, anti-regulatory activists in both the House and the Senate have been working hard to undercut some of the most important safeguards that protect Americans.

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Updated: Possible Senate Shenanigans on the REINS Act

There are rumblings that as soon as today, the Senate GOP may begin to offer up the Regulations from the Executive In Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act (S. 299) as an amendment to, or a substitute for, bills moving to the Senate floor for a vote. Such a move would limit the public's ability to have a say on this damaging legislation.

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OIRA Administrator Sunstein Calls Crain & Crain Report "Deeply Flawed"

In his oral testimony in a hearing before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on June 23, Cass Sunstein called out a "deeply flawed" report that many have been using to criticize the costs of the regulatory system.

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EPA Air Toxics Rule Will Spur Job Growth

The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed rule to limit toxic chemical emissions from power plants will create between 28,000 and 158,000 jobs in the next four years, according to a new study by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI).

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House Panel to Debate REINS Act and Its Awful Consequences

Today, a House panel will consider a bill that would create radical and damaging changes to the regulatory process and would undermine safeguards critical to our health, welfare, environment, and economy.

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Broad Opposition to Anti-Regulatory Bill

On Friday, 72 labor, environmental, consumer advocacy, health care, and other public interest organizations (including OMB Watch) wrote to the House Judiciary Committee urging its members to oppose H.R. 10, the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act. The bill, which we’ve been covering extensively on this blog in recent weeks, would require congressional approval of all major rules before government agencies can implement them.

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