U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) introduced a resolution on Wednesday to permanently rein in regulation activities by U.S. government agencies.
The Regulation Sensibility Through Oversight Restoration (RESTORE) Resolution, which has bipartisan support, would set up a Joint Select Committee that would undergo a comprehensive review of all rules implemented by federal agencies, developing a strategy for creating a congressional rules-review process. The committee also would be tasked with conducting hearings to review how rules and regulations affect the public, formulating recommendations on methods to reduce the overall regulatory burden on the public.
“The cost of federal overregulation affects every single American,” Rounds said. “It is a hidden tax that for too long has been dictated by unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats in Washington rather than elected representatives who our founders intended to be the voice of the people. The regulators have essentially become a fourth branch of government and de-facto legislative body. It’s regulation without representation, and it’s wrong.”
Rounds also said research indicates that the cost of federal regulations last year alone was nearly $1.9 trillion, much more than Americans actually paid in individual federal income taxes.
“This compliance cost is crushing the can-do American spirit that founded our nation, settled the West, won two world wars and put a man on the moon, and it’s killing the American dream,” Rounds said. RESTORE seeks to reinstate the people’s role in the rulemaking process and provides a path to eliminate the bad ones. It offers a permanent solution to over-regulation in America and restores the representative democracy our founders envisioned.”
The resolution has a strong list of co-sponsors, including Sens. Joe Manchin (D- WV), John Thune (R-SD), Jim Risch (R-ID), John Hoeven (R-ND), Susan Collins (R-ME) and Shelley Moore-Capito (R-WV). Because it is a resolution, as opposed to a bill, if passed by the House and Senate, RESTORE would be implemented without the need for the president’s signature.