Virginia Foxx: “Every year Washington imposes thousands of pages of rules and regulations on small businesses and local governments…”

“Every year Washington imposes thousands of pages of rules and regulations on small businesses and local governments across this country. Hidden in those pages are costly mandates that make it harder for companies to hire and for cash- strapped States, counties, and cities to keep streets clean and parks safe. Republicans and Democrats alike agree that each regulation the Federal Government dictates should be deliberative and economically defensible. That is why I've banded together with Democrats Loretta Sanchez, Mike McIntyre, and Collin Peterson and Republican James Lankford to introduce H.R. 899, the Unfunded Mandates Information and Transparency Act. This legislation will ensure a public and bureaucratic awareness about the cost, in dollars and in jobs, that Federal dictates pose to the economy and to local governments. There is precedent for bipartisanship on this issue. In 1995, Members from both parties got behind, and President Clinton signed, the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA), which sought to expose Washington's abuse of unfunded Federal mandates. By forcing the Federal Government to estimate how much its mandates would cost local governments and employers, regulation would necessarily become better and more efficient for everyone involved. And it has, to a certain extent. But over the years, weaknesses in the original legislation have been revealed, weaknesses that some government agencies and independent regulatory bodies have exploited.…”