Red Tape Reduction and Small Business Job Creation Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. McKINLEY. Madam Chairman, I rise today to offer an amendment that will add more clarity and accountability to the regulatory process.

Under this bill, Congress will require additional analysis and reporting on all government regulations affecting the economy by $100 million or more annually. This amendment simply reduces this threshold of $100 million to $50 million.

In FY 2011, nearly 4,000 rules were published in the Federal Register; only 83 of these rules were classified as having an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more. This represents only 2.1 percent of all the rules published. Thus far in 2012, 2,071 rules have been published, and 51 of these have been projected to have an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more, equating to just 2.4 percent.

According to the Small Business Administration, the cumulative burden of regulations exceeds more than $1 trillion annually on our economy, costing more than $10,000 per household. Regulations are clearly impacting our economy by this astounding $1 trillion amount each year, and nearly 98 percent of these rules have virtually no economic analysis or oversight.

We have more than 23 million Americans underemployed or unemployed. This political maneuvering in rulemaking has to stop. The American people sent us here to improve the economy and help them get back to work, but not to allow the promulgation of more questionable, job-hindering regulations.

When I served in the West Virginia legislature in the eighties and early nineties, no regulations were adopted until the legislature approved them--not just a few here and there, but every single regulation came before the legislature for approval, significant or otherwise.

Not conducting analysis and reports on nearly 98 percent of all government agencies' proposed regulations confounds and confronts our job creators with potentially excessive and burdensome rules.

Madam Chairman, as a reminder, in 1995, Congress passed the Job Creation and Wage Enhancement Act, which dealt with lowering the regulatory threshold from $100 million to $50 million, just as this amendment would do today. That bill passed the House by a vote of 277-141, including many Members who are present here today.

Madam Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. McKINLEY. Again, Madam Chairman, I just respectfully disagree with the comments made, recognizing, again, that this House has already spoken on this matter of reducing it from 100 to 50.

The real issue here is whether or not we want to have 98 percent of the rules that are being promulgated to go without oversight and review. It's time that we get this under control and allow more of our people to get back to work.

I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. McKINLEY. Madam Chairwoman, I just encourage my colleagues to support this amendment and, once it's adopted, to support the piece of legislation that's so needed.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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