Representative Jack Bergman (MI-01) introduced H.R. 8703, the Require Evaluation before Implementing Executive Wishlists (REVIEW) Act of 2022, a bill to prevent wasted costs from burdensome regulations overturned by judicial challenges.
The REVIEW Act would stop high-impact rules with costs over $1 billion dollars annually from taking effect until all court challenges to the regulations in question are settled. This legislation is a House companion to S. 1250, introduced by Senator Dan Sullivan of Alaska.
Bergman noted, “Washington bureaucrats have grown far too comfortable pushing through shoddy regulations that force high compliance costs on hard-working Americans, only to have these rules eventually struck down by legal challenges. Every dollar spent to comply with a regulation that is overturned by the courts is a dollar wasted. The REVIEW Act will put a much-needed pause on high-impact regulations so that they can be properly reviewed by the courts before billions of dollars are spent on compliance. I’m proud to introduce this commonsense legislation.”
Specifically, the REVIEW Act would:
- Direct the Office of Management and Budget to designate proposed rules with annual costs on the economy of at least $1 billion as “high-impact”
- Require agencies issuing high-impact rules to postpone their effective date until judicial cases against the regulation are completed
- Allow regulations that do not receive legal challenges to go into effect as normal
By adding a delay for judicial review, the REVIEW Act will help curb overregulation by the Executive Branch and avoid the unnecessary costs for businesses to comply with rules that are ultimately rejected by the courts. This will also incentivize agencies to work more closely with stakeholders before issuing regulations, thereby resulting in more legally-sound rules and a more streamlined regulatory process.
The bill has been endorsed by FreedomWorks and Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC).
FreedomWorks President Adam Brandon stated, “Today, presidential administrations of both parties use the administrative state to promulgate major regulations because they cannot pass through Congress. Unfortunately, the American people and the economy suffer for months, if not years, before a court agrees that the regulation is unlawful. Representative Bergman’s REVIEW Act of 2022 fixes that problem and requires federal agencies to postpone the effective date of new major regulations until all cases challenging their legality are complete. Based on what the Biden Administration plans to do in the coming months, few pieces of legislation are as timely.”
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