News Home

Virginia Foxx was sworn in to her sixth term as the representative of North Carolina’s 5th Congressional District on Tuesday, Jan. 6.

Following her swearing in, Foxx voted for John Boehner, a Republican representative from Ohio, to serve his third term as speaker of the House. Boehner was narrowly re-elected as speaker of the House, capturing 216 votes from his colleagues, after needing 205 votes overall.

“Today’s vote for speaker ratifies the decision made on Nov. 13 when House Republicans elected their leadership team for the 114th Congress,” Foxx said. “John Boehner came to Congress more than 20 years ago as a reformer, and he has remained one ever since. He understands the need to reduce the size and scope of the federal government, protect against executive overreach, reform spending and keep America strong. I fully support him as speaker.”

Foxx, along with Loretta Sanchez, a Democratic representative from California, also introduced legislation on Jan. 6 to shed light on how federal policies impact the budgets of state and local governments and private sector employers.

The bill, known as the Unfunded Mandates Information and Transparency Act, or H.R. 50, would attempt to fix loopholes within the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995, according to Foxx’s spokeswoman, Sheridan Watson.

According to Watson, H.R. 50 would increase transparency about the costs imposed by unfunded mandates and would hold the federal government accountable for considering those costs before passing them onto local governments and small businesses.

According to Watson, Foxx has introduced this legislation during the past four Congresses, and it has successfully passed the House with bipartisan support on three separate occasions.

Most recently, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 50 on Feb. 28, in a 234-176 vote. However, the bill has not been considered in the U.S. Senate.

“Every year, Washington imposes thousands of rules on local governments and small businesses. Hidden in those rules are costly mandates that stretch state and city budgets and make it harder for North Carolina businesses to hire,” Foxx said, about the bill. “While Congress cannot create prosperity, we can work to ensure entrepreneurs and employers aren’t crushed under costly regulations. This legislation will help restore transparency and hold Washington bureaucrats accountable for the true cost, in dollars and in jobs, that federal dictates pose to the economy. Americans are better served when regulators are required to measure and consider the costs of rules they create.”

According to information from Foxx’s office, H.R. 50 seeks to impose stricter and more clearly defined requirements for how and when federal agencies must disclose the cost of federal mandates.

Under H.R. 50, agencies must conduct UMRA analyses unless a law expressly prohibits them from doing so. Also, agencies must measure a proposed rule’s annual effect on the economy, not just expenditures, as is currently required.

The legislation also attempts to ensure accountability for adhering to its provisions and those set forth by UMRA, the spokeswoman said.

H.R. 50 designates the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs as responsible for determining whether agencies have satisfied UMRA’s cost disclosure requirements.

For additional information on the Unfunded Mandates Information and Transparency Act, visit /uploadedfiles/hr_50_umita_one_page_summary.pdf.

http://ashemountaintimes.com/news/rep-foxx-busy-after-swearing-in/article_72d1a7e4-9fe5-11e4-a35b-bbec9c687506.html