Barrasso: Washington Must Consider Costs of Regulations

Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) spoke on the floor of the U.S. Senate in favor of his bill, "The Employment Impact Act" (S. 1219). This bill would require all federal agencies to complete a "Jobs Impact Statement" when there is the potential for job loss because of a federal action. The statements would be similar to "Environmental Impact Statements" but would specifically examine and detail the impact on jobs of federal decisions.

Excerpts of his remarks are below:

"Last week, the President addressed a joint session of Congress. The President said he wanted to eliminate regulations that put, quote, "an unnecessary burden on businesses at a time when they can least afford it,'. We've heard this same message from the White House time and time again.

"The rhetoric coming out of this White House simply hasn't matched reality. In fact, Washington continues to roll out more red tape each day. The red tape makes it harder and more expensive for the private sector to create jobs in this country.

"The President also said that his Administration has identified over 500 reforms to our regulatory system that would save "billions of dollars over the next few years.' While I appreciate that the White House has "identified' wasteful regulations, it won't really help our economy unless the White House repeals them. In January, this White House has only repealed one single regulation, and it has to with spilled milk.

"And the President's new plan does nothing to fix the regulatory burdens faced by our job creators. It actually adds to the burdens to the job creators of this country. The President has tried to justify this increasing avalanche of red tape. He said he doesn't want to "choose between jobs and safety.'

"In today's regulatory climate, that choice is a false choice. Washington's wasteful regulations aren't keeping Americans safe from dangerous jobs. The American people can't find jobs because no one is safe from the regulations coming out of Washington.

"Americans know that regulating our economy makes it harder and more expensive for the private sector to create jobs. The combined cost of the new regulations being imposed by this Administration just last month is over $9 billion. Much of this cost has been borne by America's energy producers, and has cost American workers thousands of red, white and blue jobs.

"Those who try to justify these policies claim they will help us to create "green jobs' at some unknown time in the future. Our economy, our job market is not a see-saw. Pushing one part down doesn't make the other side pop up.

"This Administration's out of control regulation is persistently dragging down large portions of our economy. The President has promised to stop this kind of overreach. You'll remember, he issued an Executive Order at the start of this year that was supposed to slow down Washington's regulation.

"So what has this Administration done about it? In the 7 months since the President issued his Executive Order, hundreds and hundreds of new rules have been either enacted or proposed. For every day that goes by, our job creators face at least one new Washington rule to follow. When the President announced his Executive order, he said that he wanted it to "promote predictability and reduce uncertainty.' Laudable goals. A new rule every day does nothing to promote predictability, and is the very definition of uncertainty.

"The President talked about uncertainty just recently. The main source of uncertainty in the economy right now is Washington's regulations. Yet there is not a single sentence about regulations in the President's address just this week.

"The President has said he will "keep trying every new idea that works, and listen to every good proposal, no matter which party comes up with it.' Well, I have a pretty simple idea: If the President wants to know which proposals will work to create jobs, maybe he should require his regulatory agencies to tell him how their own actions will affect the job market.

"Congressman Lee Terry of Nebraska and I have a bill that will do just that. It's called the "Employment Impact Act,' Senate Bill 1219. This bill would force Washington to look before it leaps when it comes to regulation that could hurt American jobs.

"Under our bill, every regulatory agency would be required to prepare what is called a "Jobs Impact Statement,' and this Jobs Impact Statement would need to be prepared with every new rule that is proposed.

"That statement would include a detailed assessment of the jobs that would be lost, gained, or sent overseas by any given rule coming out of Washington. It would consider whether new rules would have a bad impact on our job market in general. This Jobs Impact Statement would also include analysis of any alternative plans that might be better for the economy, and most importantly, it would require regulatory agencies to look at how new rules might interact with other proposals coming down the road.

"The problem with our regulations is not only that they are too sweeping; it is also that there are too many of them, so it makes no sense to look at an individual rules in a vacuum, and enacting hundreds of them without knowing their cumulative effect of all of these together could spell death by a thousand cuts for hard working Americans who are trying to work and support their families.

"Also, in keeping with principles of transparency, this bill would require every Jobs Impact Statement prepared by a Federal Agency to be made available to the public. The American people deserve to know what their government is actually doing, and federal agencies in Washington need to learn to think before they act.

"Requiring statements from these agencies on what their regulations will do is nothing new. For forty years, the federal government has always required its bureaucrats to ask the question of whether their actions will impact America's environment. You have to file environmental impact statements. What I'm asking for here is a jobs impact statement.

"Past generations of legislators rightly recognized the importance of America's land, air and water, but it's important that we recognize the importance of America's working families as well. America's greatest natural resource is the American people.

"And we are talking about people who want to work, are willing to work, are looking for work -- and yet, cannot find a job. The Employment Impact Act will force Washington bureaucrats to realize Americans are much more interested in growing our nation's economy than they are in growing our government. I will continue to fight to see that the Employment Impact Act is passed and signed into law to help get Americans working again"

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