FEDERALhearing transcript

Senate Hearing on Establishing a Federal Regulatory Budget

Original title: ACCOUNTING FOR THE TRUE COST OF REGULATION: EXPLORING THE POSSIBILITY OF A REGULATORY BUDGET

January 1, 2016

regulatory policy federal budget government oversight economic regulation

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The Frame

What this does

The hearing discusses a potential policy shift that could fundamentally change how federal agencies create and maintain regulations, which directly impacts the compliance costs for businesses and the scope of government oversight.

Who is mentioned in the record

Potentially affected actors named in the source documents. Mention is not a position.

Federal Agencies

Agencies would be required to operate within a set regulatory budget, potentially limiting their ability to issue new rules.

Businesses and Regulated Entities

These groups are subject to the costs and compliance requirements of federal regulations, which a regulatory budget aims to cap or reduce.

What changed

Last recorded activity January 1, 2016.

What's next

Next step not available in the current record.

Summary

This document is a transcript of a 2015 joint Senate committee hearing exploring the concept of a '' to manage the costs of federal regulations. The hearing examined whether the government should implement a process to limit or subtract regulatory requirements rather than only adding new ones.

Key Facts

The hearing took place on June 23, 2015, in the Dirksen Senate Office Building.
The hearing was a joint session between the Committee on the Budget and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
The primary objective was to discuss the feasibility of a 'regulatory budget' to manage the cumulative cost of federal regulations.
Chairman Ron Johnson stated that the current legislative process is primarily additive, lacking a formal mechanism for 'subtraction' of regulations.
Witnesses included representatives from the Canadian government and academic experts in regulatory studies and law.
The hearing included testimony from Tony Clement (Canada), Susan E. Dudley (GWU), and Richard J. Pierce, Jr. (GWU).

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a regulatory budget?

A is a proposed mechanism to set a limit on the total costs that federal regulations can impose on the economy, similar to how the government sets limits on fiscal spending.

Why were the committees discussing this?

The committees were exploring ways to address the 'regulatory burden' and move away from a system where new regulations are only added without a formal process to remove or offset existing ones.

Why It Matters

News Coverage

No news coverage found yet. Articles are indexed twice daily.

Discoveries

Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.

policy shift90% confidence

Shift toward regulatory subtraction

The hearing marks a formal legislative attempt to shift the federal regulatory paradigm from purely additive to one that includes subtraction or offsetting.

Ron Johnson Michael B. Enzi

Connected Entities

personRichard J. Pierce, Jr.“Professor of Law, George Washington School of Law”Map →

personTony Clement“President of the Treasury Board, Government of Canada”Map →

personRon Johnson“Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs”Map →

personSusan E. Dudley“Director, Regulatory Studies Center, George Washington University”Map →

organizationCommittee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs“Joint committee host”Map →

personMichael B. Enzi“Chairman of the Committee on the Budget”Map →

organizationCommittee on the Budget“Joint committee host”Map →

Sources

Open source document

www.govinfo.gov

Analysis Score

0–100

Significance65
How much this matters to a regular citizen
Controversy40
Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
Entertainment10
Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
Buzz5
Current news / social attention level

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