Lankford Seeks to Enact Long-term Solutions to Remove Regulatory Red Tape

WASHINGTON, DC – Senator James Lankford (R-OK) today introduced a package of three bills to address regulatory deficiencies and misguided agency directives. Lankford introduced the Give Useful Information to Define Effective (GUIDE) Compliance Act, the Safeguarding Awards for Victims and Enforcement Settlements (SAVES) Act, and the Better Evaluation of Science and Technology (BEST) Act. Lankford has supported these solutions in previous Congresses and/or has offered them in his Federal Fumbles government waste reports as solutions. Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC), Jim Inhofe (R-OK), and John Cornyn (R-TX) are cosponsors of the SAVES Act. Tillis is also a cosponsor along with Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) of the GUIDE Compliance Act.

“Oklahomans sent me to Washington to actually solve problems, and despite all the noise in our nation right now, we still have long-term federal regulatory issues that we can and should resolve with these bills,” said Lankford. “Previous administrations have created a quagmire of federal red tape and have overcomplicated the federal rulemaking process by applying a variety of inconsistent standards across federal agencies that Americans have to try to figure out. President Trump has helped unravel some of those complications, but we need to enact these solutions into law to ensure long-term stability for families and small businesses in Oklahoma and around the country. I look forward to moving these important bills through the legislative process.”

Background

• The Give Useful Information to Define Effective (GUIDE) Compliance Act would enhance transparency and predictability to the rulemaking process of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (BCFP), formally known as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
• The Safeguarding Awards for Victims and Enforcement Settlements (SAVES) Act would prohibit the federal government from entering into or enforcing an enforcement settlement agreement on behalf of the United States that provides payment in the form of donations to third-parties, which ensures Americans’ hard-earned tax dollars are not used to push a particular political agenda. The bill still allows payments for environmental damages and still allows losing parties to pay restitution for harm caused by the party.
• The Better Evaluation of Science and Technology (BEST) Act would apply the same scientific standards found in the Toxic Substances Control Act to all rulemaking in the entire federal government, which helps make those standards consistent for Americans interacting with those agencies.

Lankford is Chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs and Federal Management.

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