Do you have concerns or complaints about how some federal regulations affect your life or make it difficult for you to do business? There is now a way to voice those concerns to Congress that may lead to positive action.
The #CutRedTape Initiative is a bipartisan effort by the Senate Regulatory Affairs and Federal Management Subcommittee to identify and overhaul burdensome and unnecessary regulation. As part of the initiative, Senators James Lankford (R–OK) and Heidi Heitkamp (D–ND) announced the creation of a website, #CutRedTape Initiative, where the subcommittee members can collect information about red tape with the goal of reducing the regulatory barriers to business growth and the regulatory costs that encumber families’ budgets.
The site invites you to “share a story about regulations that [have] hampered or enhanced economic opportunities.” Heitkamp points out that learning about individuals’ experiences with the administrative state are vital to effective oversight and improvement of the regulatory process.
According to Lankford, “[The Subcommittee] want[s] to be able to make sure that any regulation that’s promulgated is actually by the people,” a characteristic the current regulatory regime lacks. Unfortunately, it is common practice for unaccountable regulatory agencies to be the judge, jury, and executioner when it comes to enforcing regulations that the agencies—not Congress—wrote. On the other hand, regulators would have far less discretion if Congress stopped enacting vast and vaguely worded legislation that grants unduly broad powers to regulators.
A key tenet of a more rational regulatory system is accountability. The #CutRedTape Initiative is a step toward better congressional oversight of agencies and the regulatory process. Let’s hope it actually fulfills its promise.
Click here to visit the #CutRedTape Initiative Web site and share your story.
James Quarles is currently a member of the Young Leaders Program at The Heritage Foundation. For more information on interning at Heritage, please click here.
