June 7, 2023

U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Representative,

You will soon be considering H.R. 277, the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act of 2023.  On behalf of the more than one million members and supporters of the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW), I urge you to support this legislation.

 Many regulations are far-reaching and place significant new burdens on American businesses and taxpayers.  According to the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Ten Thousand Commandments report, the cost of regulatory compliance and federal intervention costs $1.927 trillion annually. 

Unfortunately, members of Congress are not required to approve major federal regulations finalized under their watch.  Current law only allows for members to pass a resolution of disapproval through the congressional review process to overturn major rules after they are in place.  This unchecked power of the executive branch and the lack of congressional oversight has allowed for the establishment of onerous regulations.

H.R. 277 would establish a congressional approval process for major rules, and a major rule would only take effect if Congress approved of the rule.  The bill defines a major rule as one that has an annual economic impact of over $100 million; would create a major increase in costs or prices for consumers or individual industries; or have significant adverse impacts on competition, employment, investments, innovation, productivity, or the ability for U.S. companies to compete against foreign-based companies. 

The REINS Act would protect Americans and American-owned businesses from unnecessary regulatory burdens and ensure a high standard of quality in the government’s rule-making process.  For these, reasons I urge you to support H.R. 277.  All voted related to H.R. 277 may be among those considered in CCAGW’s 2023 Congressional Ratings.   

Sincerely,

Tom Schatz 
President, CCAGW 

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