Bill Would Require Federal Agencies to Give More Notice of Regulations
Sunlight is the best disinfectant. That was the message at a hearing last week for a bill aimed at increasing transparency by requiring federal agencies to give advanced notice of regulations. The bill, approved by voice vote with bipartisan support by the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, will move on now to consideration by the full Senate.
Under the Early Participations in Regulations Act, businesses and the public would have more notice of proposed major rules, giving federal agencies more time to collect public comments. Agencies would have to publish advanced notice of proposed rulemaking at least 90 days before the official rulemaking notice. Major rules are considered to be those that have costs or benefits to the economy in the amount of $100 million or more in a calendar year.
Currently, by the time a notice of proposed rulemaking is released, federal agencies have typically already decided what kind of rule will be issued. The proposed bill would give the public more time to be involved on the front end, forcing agencies to collect public comments before proposing concrete regulatory terms, giving affected parties a chance to offer ideas on how to achieve a regulatory goal that the agency may not have considered. If the bill is enacted, among other things, final rules will benefit from a more robust consideration of the public’s feedback and will be more likely to hold up in court.
“An advanced notice requirement would help surface potential roadblocks or find smarter regulatory approaches at an earlier stage before the agency has invested an inordinate amount of time into its chosen path,” said Patrick Hedren, NAM’s Vice President for Labor, Legal and Regulatory Policy. “This is just a basic transparency and good governance measure meant to force agencies to solicit regulatory ideas from the public that they might otherwise not have considered.”
This bill is one that the NAM has long supported in previous Congresses, and it continues to support this legislation in its current form.
“We’re thrilled to see Senators Lankford and Sinema engage on bipartisan good governance measures like this one that improve the way the federal government seeks input from manufacturers and the public,” Hedren said.
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Manufacturers Unveil Competitiveness Agenda Ahead of Midterm Elections
“Competing to Win” offers a path for bringing the country together around policies, shared values and a unified purpose
Washington, D.C. – Ahead of the midterm elections, the National Association of Manufacturers released its policy roadmap, “Competing to Win,” a comprehensive blueprint featuring immediate solutions for bolstering manufacturers’ competitiveness. It is also a roadmap for policymakers on the laws and regulations needed to strengthen the manufacturing industry in the months and years ahead.
With the country facing rising prices, snarled supply chains and geopolitical turmoil, manufacturers are outlining an actionable competitiveness agenda that Americans across the political spectrum can support. “Competing to Win” includes the policies manufacturers in America will need in place to continue driving the country forward.
“‘Competing to Win’ offers a path for bringing our country together around policies, shared values and a unified purpose,” said NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons. “The NAM is putting forward a plan filled with ideas that policymakers could pursue immediately, including solutions to urgent problems, such as energy security, immigration reform, supply chain disruptions, the ongoing workforce shortage and more. Manufacturers have shown incredible resilience through difficult times, employing more workers now than before the pandemic, but continued resilience is not guaranteed without the policies that are critical to the state of manufacturing in America.”
The NAM and its members will leverage “Competing to Win” to shape policy debates ahead of the midterm elections, in the remainder of the 117th Congress and at the start of the 118th Congress—including in direct engagement with lawmakers, for grassroots activity, across traditional and digital media and through events in key states and districts as we did following the initial rollout of the roadmap in 2016.
The document focuses on 12 areas of action, and all policies are rooted in the values that have made America exceptional and keep manufacturing strong: free enterprise, competitiveness, individual liberty and equal opportunity.
Learn more about how manufacturers are leading and about the industry’s competitiveness agenda at nam.org/competing-to-win.
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The National Association of Manufacturers is the largest manufacturing association in the United States, representing small and large manufacturers in every industrial sector and in all 50 states. Manufacturing employs more than 12.8 million men and women, contributes $2.77 trillion to the U.S. economy annually and accounts for 58% of private-sector research and development. The NAM is the powerful voice of the manufacturing community and the leading advocate for a policy agenda that helps manufacturers compete in the global economy and create jobs across the United States. For more information about the NAM or to follow us on Twitter and Facebook, please visit www.nam.org
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