January 05, 2017

New Democrat Coalition Chair’s Statement on the REINS Act

Today New Democrats voted against the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act. The REINS Act undermines the power of agencies set up to enforce governmental regulations by requiring Congressional approval of all major rules. Instead of improving America’s regulatory environment, the bill will paralyze executive branch rule-making leading to inefficiency in government.  

“The REINS Act is another example of the partisan divide in Congress. New Democrats recognize we must focus on replacing duplicative and obsolete regulations with new, smarter regulations to help innovators and new businesses grow jobs in the economy. Instead, the majority has put forward a regulatory “reform” bill that would hamstring regulatory implementation, including important measures to protect the health and safety of Americans. This session, Congress should get down to business and work in a bipartisan way to achieve the right balance,” said New Dem Chair Jim Himes (CT-04).

The regulatory debate often divides lawmakers along predictable lines, but New Democrats overwhelmingly agree that Congress must get past this partisan divide to modernize and streamline the system we have. For example, lawmakers should continue work to establish a Regulatory Improvement Commission (RIC), a bipartisan commission, to efficiently reduce the buildup of rules over time. With RIC, entrepreneurs and new businesses would not face the burden of outdated and overlapping rules which hinder their ability to grow in today's economy.  We should further empower government agencies that already have the capability to set up and monitor regulations in order to effectively and efficiently regulate uphold rules across various industries. 



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