House bills cracking down on burdensome rules pass committee

The House Judiciary Committee moved two bills forward Tuesday that aim to weed out overly burdensome regulations.

The Searching for and Cutting Regulations that are Unnecessarily Burdensome or SCRUB Act, introduced by Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.) passed the House Judiciary Committee by a 17-12 vote.

The bill calls for a 9-member Retrospective Regulatory Review Commission to be appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. The commission would be tasked with determining which rules should be repealed to eliminated or reduce the costs of regulations.  

The committee also approved the Providing Accountability Through Transparency Act of 2015, introduced by Rep. Blaine Leutkemeyer (R-Mo.), in a voice vote. The bill requires each federal agency to include a 100-word summary in plain language when issuing a notice of proposed rulemaking.

In a statement supporting Leutkemeyer’s bill, Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) said not only do regulations regularly cost too much, they are also often impossible to understand.

“What a concept—state in clear, simple and short terms for the American people just what federal regulators propose to do, he said. “State it in terms that don’t require help from a lawyer to understand.  And state it online—every time a new regulation is proposed.”