New to the art form? This Wall Street Journal article will get you orientated. Also, for more information on how some of these titles mislead lawmakers and the citizenry, find some academic commentary from Brian Christopher Jones here: https://works.bepress.com/brian_jones/.

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

A Regulatory Amber ALERT

Rep. George Holding (R., NC) has introduced H.R. 2804, the All Economic Regulations are Transparent Act (ALERT) of 2013. The measure is basically a regulatory amber alert system. According to the official summary of the law, it (among other things): 
Requires the head of each federal agency to submit a monthly report to the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for each rule which such agency expects to propose or finalize during the upcoming year. Sets forth the required content of such report, including: (1) a summary of the nature of the rule, (2) the objectives of and legal basis for the issuance of the rule, (3) the stage of the rule making as of the date of submission, (4) whether the rule is subject to periodic review as a rule with a significant economic impact, (5) an approximate schedule for completing action on the rule, and (6) an estimate of its cost. Requires the Administrator to post reports on the Internet.
Today in an official statement the White House came out against the measure, noting: 
The bill would impose unneeded and costly analytical and procedural requirements on agencies that would prevent them from performing their statutory responsibilities.  It would also create needless regulatory and legal uncertainty, increase costs for businesses and State, local and tribal governments, and impede common-sense protections for the American public.
Note: there appears to be some confusion as to what the actual name of the H.R. 2804 actually is. The White House notes that the acronym stands for Achieving Less Excess in Regulation and Requiring Transparency (ALERRT), while Congress.gov, THOMAS, the House Rules Committee, and the official press release by Rep. Holding state the title is: All Economic Regulations are Transparent Act (ALERT) of 2013. I have seen nothing besides the White House press release to suggest otherwise. 

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