From the Speaker of the House, John Boehner's website, in full:
According
to the National Federation of Independent Business – the nation’s
largest small business organization – the Obama administration currently
has more than 4,000 federal regulations “in the pipeline which, if implemented, will impose costs of more than $515 billion on the U.S. economy.” The Republican Plan for America’s Job Creators
targets excessive, burdensome federal regulations that hurt small
businesses, hold back economic growth, and hamper private-sector job
creation. Here’s a look at what the Republican-led House has done to
roll back the red tape on American job creators:
- INCREASING CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT OF MAJOR OBAMA ADMINISTRATION REGULATIONS: The House passed the Regulations From the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act (H.R. 10), legislation requiring Congressional approval of any new federal regulation with an economic impact of at least $100 million – a key part of Republicans’ Pledge to America to “rein in the red tape factory in Washington, DC.” In addition, the House passed a resolution (H. Res. 72) directing House committees to inventory and review federal agency rules and regulations to identify those that are making it harder to create jobs and grow the economy.
- IMPROVING TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY IN THE RULE-MAKING PROCESS: The Obama administration has issued 106 major regulations costing the economy $46 billion, according to a report by the Heritage Foundation, and has even more costly new regulations in the works. The Regulatory Accountability Act (H.R. 3010) passed by the House will help rein in the red tape by requiring agencies to undertake a thorough cost-benefit analysis of proposed rules, and implement other reforms to bring greater transparency to the rule-making process and more rigorous evaluation of regulations that will have a major impact on jobs and the economy. Several dozen groups representing job creators, small businesses, and manufacturers support the bill, saying it “would modernize and update the 65-year old regulatory process” and help protect jobs. The House has also passed the Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act (H.R. 527) that requires agencies to identify and reduce the costs of new regulations that make it harder for small businesses to create jobs.
- HOLDING THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION ACCOUNTABLE FOR THE IMPACT OF ITS EXCESSIVE ENERGY REGULATIONS: The Obama administration’s excessive new regulations on coal-fired energy producers are shutting down plants and costing jobs – leaving mine workers and others affected by the closures fearful that their “whole future is up in the air” and “worried about their jobs and how they will pay their bills and mortgages.” The Transparency in Regulatory Analysis of Impacts on the Nation (TRAIN) Act (H.R. 2401) would put a stop to some of the most potentially damaging new Obama administration rules on coal-fired energy producers, and require a study of the cumulative impacts of several other regulations on jobs, energy prices, and electric reliability. The Gasoline Regulations Act (H.R. 4471), passed by the House as part of the Domestic Energy and Jobs Act (H.R. 4480), puts a stop to three burdensome new Obama administration energy regulations and, for the first time, requires cumulative analyses of the effect of other current and proposed government regulations that would potentially drive up gas prices.
- ROLLING BACK RED TAPE ON AMERICAN ENERGY PRODUCTION TO HELP ADDRESS HIGH GAS PRICES AND CREATE JOBS: As part of both the Plan for America’s Job Creators and the American Energy Initiative, the House has passed several bills aimed at rolling back excessive red tape that is hampering American energy production and driving up gas prices. The House has passed several bills to end President Obama’s de facto moratorium on offshore energy production, promote onshore energy development, and stop onerous regulations that are shutting down coal-fired energy producers and costing jobs. Learn more about all of these bills here.
- REPEALING THE MAZE OF OBAMACARE MANDATES, TAXES AND REGULATIONS THAT HOLD BACK JOB GROWTH: Small business owners will have to dedicate “a massive amount of money... toward an alphabet soup” of regulations under ObamaCare – making it harder for them to grow and create jobs. The House voted on Pledge to America legislation (H.R. 2) fully repealing ObamaCare, and subsequently voted to repeal portions of the law left intact by the Supreme Court. One of the House’s earliest victories in the ongoing fight to repeal ObamaCare was passage of the Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act (H.R. 4). Described as “one of Washington’s dumbest ideas,” ObamaCare’s 1099 paperwork mandate would have had a particularly devastating impact on small businesses who would have had “to redirect scarce resources from productive activities that could grow the business, add jobs, and pay higher wages to complying with the onerous new reporting requirements,” according to the Heritage Foundation.
- PREVENTING UNELECTED, UNACCOUNTABLE BUREAUCRATS FROM MAKING IT HARDER TO CREATE JOBS: In 2011, the Obama administration’s National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) attempted to block the creation of new jobs in South Carolina. While the NLRB was ultimately forced to withdraw its suit, the Protecting Jobs from Government Interference Act (H.R. 2587) – a bill backed by job creators - would prevent the NRLB from dictating where a private business can and cannot create jobs in the United States going forward. The House also passed the Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act (H.R. 3094) that would have prevented the NLRB from carrying out drastic new rules that significantly limit the rights of workers and employers, and place added burdens on American job creators.
- PROTECTING FARMERS AND RANCHERS FROM COSTLY AND DUPLICATIVE REGULATIONS THAT COST JOBS: The House has passed two bills aimed at stopping onerous and unnecessary Obama administration regulations that will have a particularly devastating impact on farmers and ranchers. The Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act (H.R. 872), which passed the House with bipartisan support, would have prevented costly and duplicative regulations that increase the financial and administrative burden on “public health officials, farmers, ranchers and even everyday citizens,” and create “another government obstacle to job creation at a time when our economy can least afford it,” Speaker Boehner and Rep. Bob Gibbs (R-OH) explained in a joint op-ed in the Chillicothe Gazette. Senate Democrats refused to take action, allowing these excessive regulations to go into effect last year. The House has also passed the Farm Dust Regulation Prevention Act (H.R. 1633), legislation backed by farmers and agricultural groups that that will eliminate the threat of excessive new Washington regulations that could hurt American farmers, ranchers, and small businesses, and cause “significant job losses.”
- STOPPING EXCESSIVE REGULATIONS THAT THREATEN HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF AMERICAN JOBS: The House passed legislation (H.R. 2250) to stop the Obama administration’s proposed regulations on boilers used by thousands of major employers, including hospitals, factories, and colleges. The new rules will impose billions of dollars in new costs, make many goods and services more expensive, and put more than 200,000 jobs at risk, according to the Council of Industrial Boiler Owners. The House has also taken action on the Cement Sector Regulatory Relief Act (H.R. 2681) to prevent burdensome new regulations on cement producers that, according to an analysis by Southern Methodist University, will put 15,000 jobs at risk.
- MAKING IT EASIER FOR SMALL BUSINESS TO GROW & PUT MORE AMERICANS BACK TO WORK: The Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act (H.R. 3606), bipartisan legislation signed into law earlier this year, removes barriers to small business growth – including burdensome regulations - and helps entrepreneurs access the resources they need to put more Americans back to work.