Billy Long: Reining in red tape

In his latest newsletter, Seventh District Congressman Billy Long tells what he has been doing to stop all of the government red tape.

Traveling our district this month there is one issue that keeps popping up in my meetings and visits with constituents: excessive regulations.  

The flurry of regulations from this administration continues to stifle our economy and makes it harder for manufacturing and small businesses to succeed.  The financial costs of these regulations place a heavy burden on job creators and cause too much uncertainty for a healthy economic recovery.  

Creating new jobs remains one of our most important priorities, yet the unelected bureaucrats in Washington continue to issue regulation after regulation with little thought on how they will impact our businesses and families.  As the branch held most responsible to the American people, Congress should reclaim much of this law-making authority.

Sadly, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continues to lead on issuing job-crushing regulations.  That is why I have supported legislation that would help to rein in this unprecedented authority that the EPA has accumulated.

With my support, H.R. 1582, the Energy Consumers Relief Act, passed the United States House of Representatives on August 1, 2013.  This legislation requires the EPA to submit a detailed report to Congress specifying certain cost, benefit, energy price, and job impacts before they can finalize any energy-related rule or regulation estimated to cost more than $1 billion.  It also requires the Energy Secretary to analyze the potential effects of the rule on the economy, and prohibits any rule that is determined to have an adverse effect.

Additionally, I cosponsored H.R. 367, the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act, and supported it when it passed the U.S. House of Representatives on August 2, 2013.  This bill requires Congress to approve all major rules and regulations with an economic impact of $50 million or more created by the Executive Branch before they can take effect.  This bill will reinforce the checks and balances system of our Federal government.

The Executive Branch likes to crank out regulations with little to no thought on how they will impact American families and job creation.  I am working and will continue working to rein in the Executive Branch rulemaking authority by requiring Congress to have a greater say in the rulemaking process.