News Home

WASHINGTON – Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., today voted in favor of legislation designed to reduce excessive regulatory costs by overhauling the federal rulemaking process. H.R. 185, the Regulatory Accountability Act of 2015, passed the House by a vote of 250 to 175.

“Having owned a small business, I know from personal experience that overly burdensome rules and regulations handed down from bureaucrats in Washington can wreak havoc on both employers and employees,” said Foxx. “While Congress cannot create prosperity, we can work to ensure entrepreneurs and employers aren’t crushed under red tape. This legislation will help ensure that the federal government properly investigates and examines the effects that new rules and regulations pose to the American economy.” 

By modernizing the rulemaking process as defined by the Administrative Procedure Act, the legislation would improve how rules are promulgated by requiring agencies to estimate the cost of proposed regulations and consider new criteria, including lower-cost alternatives. 

It also would subject rules that are deemed "major" or "high impact" to additional criteria and procedural steps. The bill defines a "major" rule as any federal rule or regulatory proposal that is likely to impose an average annual cost of $100 million or more, adjusted annually for inflation, or that is likely to result in major increases in consumer prices or adverse effects on employment, investment, productivity or the ability of U.S. companies to compete with foreign-based enterprises. It defines a "high impact" rule as any rule or regulatory proposal that is likely to impose an annual cost of $1 billion or more, adjusted annually for inflation.

Additionally the legislation would require an advanced-notice comment period to determine whether the rule-making process should proceed for rules that are deemed "major" or "high impact" as well as provide new opportunities for interested parties and the public to challenge agency justifications and findings.

###
U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx is currently serving her sixth term as the representative of North Carolina’s 5th Congressional District and is the elected Republican Conference Secretary. Dr. Foxx is the chair of the House Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Higher Education and serves as Vice Chair of the House Rules Committee.