Lankford, Sinema Hold Subcommittee Hearing on Regulatory Reform

WASHINGTON, DC – Senator James Lankford (R-OK), Chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs and Federal Management, and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee, Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), today conducted a hearing entitled, “From Beginning to End: An Examination of Agencies Early Public Engagement and Retrospective Review.”

The hearing examined how agencies create regulatory schemes and the ways agencies measure success of regulations. The witnesses discussed both advanced notices of proposed rulemaking and retrospective review of regulations.

Lankford and Sinema are also planning to introduce the Early Participation in Rulemaking Act and the Setting Manageable Analysis Requirements in Text (SMART) Act. The Early Participation in Rulemaking Act would direct agencies to issue advanced notices for rules costing more than $100 million annually. The agency must outline the problem the rule intends to solve and listen to the public’s input on the subject.

The Setting Manageable Analysis Requirements in Text (SMART) Act is a retrospective review bill that looks ahead. It requires agencies to set metrics for how a rule will be measured for success in the future and has the agency use those metrics to review the rule within 10 years.

“Federal regulations should be well planned and well executed, and we should be able to determine if they achieved the intended result,” said Lankford. “Federal regulations affect nearly everything we do in our nation. Congressional oversight of the rulemaking process is one way to ensure our federal regulations are up-to-date and effective. In addition to creating new rules, agencies should work just as diligently to assess existing rules and determine whether they are still needed. I am grateful to partner with Senator Sinema to not only provide this oversight through our Subcommittee but also to work on legislative solutions to the federal regulatory issues we face.” 

“Today we continue the work of advocating for commonsense regulatory reforms. By requiring agencies to plan for reviews through the SMART Act, the reviews will be more thorough and accurate and less expensive and time-consuming. This will improve regulations, remove unnecessary burdens, and increase transparency and accessibility for Arizona businesses,” said Sinema.

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