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House Should Reject Three Anti-Regulatory Proposals

Coalition for Sensible Safeguards Urges Opposition

Feb. 28, 2017

Contact: David Rosen, drosen@citizen.org, (202) 588-7742

The U.S. House of Representatives should reject three anti-regulatory proposals being voted on this week, the Coalition for Sensible Safeguards told members of the House in letters sent to Capitol Hill today. The proposals Congress should vote against include:

  • The SCRUB Act (H. R. 998), expected to be on the floor today. SCRUB is the legislative version of President Donald Trump’s anti-regulatory executive orders. It would establish a review commission designed to repeal essential public protections – focusing exclusively on costs to industry and ignoring the public benefits of these safeguards. The proposal also would require an existing rule to be repealed for every new one issued.
  • The OIRA Insight, Reform and Accountability Act (H. R. 1009), expected to be on the floor Wednesday. This legislation would subject independent agencies to political interference from the White House’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs and would overrule the longstanding mission of most federal agencies by requiring them to prioritize corporate profits over protecting the public.
  • The Regulatory Integrity Act (H. R. 1004), expected to be on the floor Thursday. This bill is, in effect, a gag order that blocks federal agencies from using social media to communicate with the public about their work. In the absence of clear guidelines spelling out what kind of content is permissible, even innocuous content such as landscape pictures of national parks might run afoul of this proposed law.

Please contact the individuals listed above to speak with an expert.