Regulatory Action Center Review - June 21, 2019

Welcome to FreedomWorks Foundation’s tenth regulatory review of 2019! Our Regulatory Action Center proudly updates you with our favorite tidbits from the swamp. We want to smash barriers between bureaucracy and the American people by delivering regulatory news straight to FreedomWorks activists. Check back in two weeks for the next edition.

1) Video of the Week: A giant of conservative economic circles, President Trump presented Arthur Laffer with the Presidential Medal of Freedom earlier this week. Sometimes referred to as the “Father of Supply-Side Economics,” Laffer’s work has spanned decades and helped drive U.S. economic policy since the Reagan era. In this video, Laffer explains the theory that bears his name, the Laffer Curve.

2) Mike Lee’s New Bill Would Enforce ‘No Regulation Without Representation’: “‘If the Founders’ rallying cry was ‘No taxation without representation,’ ours must be, or must at least involve, ‘No regulation without representation,’’ Lee said at [The Heritage Foundation’s] Capitol Hill headquarters. Lee said he introduced the Take Care Act as the third part to a conservative legislative program that seeks to reduce the size and impact of administrative agencies, what he called the “headless fourth branch of the federal government.” https://www.dailysignal.com/2019/06/19/mike-lees-new-bill-would-enforce-no-regulation-without-representation/

3) It’s a Terrible Time to Regulate Big Tech: “Had Benjamin Franklin lived today, he might have modified his iconic aphorism to read: There are only three things inevitable in life: death, taxes, and regulations. But the unintended consequence of Big Regulation is that regulatory lock-in preserves the monopoly status of the big players of the moment. Historically, corporate titans initially equivocate, but end up acquiescing to, if not encouraging, federal oversight. Big players can afford the lawyers, compliance teams, and lobbyists needed to take advantage of a regulatory regime that conveniently suppresses smaller competitors. ” https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/03/30/its_a_terrible_time_to_regulate_big_tech_136663.html

4) Trump admin submits final rule to kill Obama Clean Power Plan: “The Trump administration Wednesday finalized a rule to repeal and replace a capstone Obama-era carbon pollution regulation that they argue exceeded the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) authority. The new replacement rule to the Clean Power Plan (CPP), deemed the Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule, aims to give states more time and authority to decide how to implement the best new technology to ease net emissions from coal-fired plants.” https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/449303-trump-admin-submits-final-rule-to-kill-obama-clean-power-plan

5) Let’s Move More Federal Agencies Out of Washington: “There isn’t much reason to keep a lot of government agencies in or near Washington. It makes sense to keep groups involved with “day-to-day politics” or policymaking, like the diplomatic corps, close to the capital. But many agencies are research organizations, and there’s no clear purpose in keeping them near the seat of power. For example, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, and there aren’t many concerns that this distance from Washington impedes the agency’s mission.” https://reason.com/2019/06/17/lets-move-more-federal-agencies-out-of-washington/

6) The VA is improving because it’s using more private healthcare: “Even as someone who has been highly critical of the agency for years, I have to admit the VA has made some improvement since the deadly 2014 waitlist scandal. Between 2014 and 2017, according to a study by the JAMA network, wait times across the VA have generally gone down. However, this decrease occurred while the VA increased the number of private sector appointments by over 50%, demonstrating better use of non-VA providers and the introduction of the albeit imperfect Veterans Choice Program helped improve wait times for veterans.” https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/op-eds/the-va-is-improving-because-its-using-more-private-healthcare

7) New York’s Progressive-Backed Rental Regulations Are a Huge Gift to Wealthy Tenants: “By abolishing high-rent and high-income deregulation, New York’s legislature is ensuring that the discount for high-income renters will continue to grow. Limiting the ability of property owners to claw back the costs of capital improvements with higher rents will also decrease their incentive to keep buildings in a state of good repair, warns the Manhattan Institute’s Howard Husock.” https://reason.com/2019/06/17/new-yorks-progressive-backed-rental-regulations-are-a-huge-gift-to-wealthy-tenants/