Ongoing efforts by NAHB to reduce excessive regulatory burdens on small businesses produced results in Congress last week with the approval of two bills that would rein in and reduce the costs of new federal regulations.
In a victory for the nation’s home builders, the House on Dec. 2 voted 253 to 167 to approve H.R. 3010, the Regulatory Accountability Act of 2011, which would modernize the 65-year-old Administrative Procedure Act to permit federal agencies to select the least costly options when writing new rules.
On Dec. 1, the House also approved the Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act (H.R. 527), companion legislation supported by NAHB stipulating that federal agencies must identify and reduce the costs of regulations on small businesses when determining the economic benefits of a proposed rule.
A recent study by NAHB economists found that, on average, 25% of the cost of a single-family home is attributable to government regulation.
Given the substantial regulatory burden already borne by the housing industry and the fact that the Small Business Administration has acknowledged that small businesses continue to bear a disproportionate share of the federal regulatory burden, the NAHB board — at the behest of the Home Builders Association of Kentucky — enacted policy at its fall meeting in Milwaukee to “support congressional efforts to address overly burdensome regulations, especially those that impact small businesses in the housing industry.”
In leading a business community push for passage of these bills, NAHB sent a “key vote” letter to House members prior to the vote on H.R. 3010 urging them to support the measure because it would reduce regulatory costs, limit unnecessary regulations, spur job growth and strengthen the economy.
“H.R. 3010 will help ensure that regulations are narrowly tailored, supported by strong and credible data and evidence, and impose the least burden possible while still implementing congressional intent,” the letter said.
“This bill will make the regulatory process more transparent, agencies more accountable and regulations more cost-effective.”
Sponsored by Reps. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), Howard Coble (R-Minn.) and Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), the bipartisan bill seeks to rein in costly and unnecessary regulations by placing permanent restrictions on regulatory agencies and requiring openness and transparency in the regulatory process.
“Government regulation has become a barrier to economic growth and job creation,” said Rep. Smith, who also serves as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.
“We need to encourage businesses to expand, not tie them up with red tape,” Smith said. “The Regulatory Accountability Act will help lift the regulatory burden and free up small businesses and employers to spend more, invest more and produce more to create more jobs for American workers.”
The legislation would enhance the regulatory process by:
- Increasing public participation in shaping the most costly regulations ($100 million in impact or more annually) before they are proposed
- Requiring agencies to choose the least costly option unless they can demonstrate a need to do otherwise to protect public health, safety or welfare
- Providing for on-the-record administrative hearings for the most costly regulations to insure that data from agencies are well tested and reviewed
- Restricting agencies’ use of interim final regulations where no comments are taken before a regulation takes effect and providing expedited judicial review of whether that approach is justified
- Providing a more rigorous test in legal challenges for those regulations that would have the most impact ($1 billion in impact or more annually).
The House is expected to vote on a third regulatory reform bill this week.
H.R. 10, the Regulations From the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act, is sponsored by Rep. Geoff Davis(R-Ky.) and would require congressional approval for government regulations that have an annual impact of at least $100 million.
Companion bills for H.R. 3010 (S. 1606) and H.R. 10 (S. 299) are pending in the Senate.
The legislation can be viewed on http://thomas.loc.gov by typing the bill number in the box at the upper center of the page.
For more information, email Alex Strong at NAHB, or call him at 800-368-5242 x8279.
Article reprinted with permission from the NAHB
