Reining in the Executive Branch Bureaucracy, Part 11: Sunset Regulations and Implement a “One In, One Out” Procedure

by Wayne Crews on March 11, 2014 ·

Since the Federalist Papers, America has debated “Energy in the Executive.” But President Obama’s 2014 agenda framed by his State of the Union address heralds a class warfare agenda, one fusing an “income inequality” theme with federal industrial policy and other activism.

“When I can act on my own without Congress, I’m going to do so,” Obama promises. This spend-and-transfer fixation makes Americans poorer and dependent except for the lucky few running things.  Others have argued for federal budget rationality as essential to any anti-poverty agenda. This series proposes a greater prosperity enhancing opportunity, streamlining the nearly $2 trillion regulatory state and ending the uncertainty, wealth destruction and job loss it creates.  What if regulations went away occasionally?

 

Review and sunsetting requirements built into laws and regulations might be used to incentivize agencies to repeal outdated rules.  Sunsetting clauses essentially put an expiration date on new regulations such that they phase out unless their extension is justified through a review process (yes, most will call for continuation, which is a massive problem with the idea). Such procedures could encourage efficiency, boost accountability and foster more productive versions of reports like the Office of Management and Budget’s Reports to Congress on Regulatory Benefits and Costs.....To Read More…..

Also in The “Reining in the Executive Branch Bureaucracy” Series:

Part 1: Measure Regulatory Costs
Part 2: Regulatory Benefits? Maybe Not
Part 3: Make Regulations Transparent Like the Budget
Part 4: Put a Spotlight on Economically Significant Rules
Part 5: Categorize Regulations by Impact
Part 6: Deal With The Deadweight Cost Of Regulation
Part 7: Recognize and Reduce Indirect Costs of Regulation
Part 8: Create a Culture of Repealing Regulations
Part 9: Congress Must Affirm Final Agency Rules before They Are Law
Part 10: Congress Should Create an Annual Regulatory Reduction Commission