On Wednesday, May 17th, S. 951 the Regulatory Accountability Act of 2017(RAA) was passed out of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC) – by a vote of 9-5 – and will now be sent to the Senate Floor. By passing the RAA, the 115th Congress has the unique opportunity to modernize the Administrative Procedure Act’s rulemaking process, which has remained unchanged for more than 70 years.
The sole focus of the Regulatory Accountability Act is to make sure that agencies, for the most costly regulations, take the time to implement Congressional intent, not the intent of the agency. In short, it allows Congress and the public to reassert control over the federal regulatory bureaucracy by holding agencies more accountable for their decisions, and allowing for regulations that are better-tailored to achieve their purpose without unnecessary burdens on stakeholders.
We thank those who continue to support of regulatory reform. I encourage you to publicly show your support by writing a blog post detailing the RAA’s importance to your members; to view an op-ed supporting the RAA go to: http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/uncategorized/334136-separating-fact-from-fiction-in-the-regulatory
