OIRA@2050

Editor’s Note: The following is a brief excerpt from the FSOC 2018 Report. The complete report is available here.

From: Financial Stability Oversight Council

2018 Annual Report

3.12 Regulatory Efficiency and Effectiveness

While the regulatory environment has contributed
to improvements in financial stability and the
resiliency of financial institutions since the financial
crisis, new regulations have also raised concerns
about increased compliance costs and regulatory
burdens for financial institutions, especially for
smaller institutions.

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The Council recommends that federal and state
financial regulators continue to work together
to evaluate regulatory overlap and duplication,
modernize outdated regulations, and, where
authority exists, tailor regulations based on the size
and complexity of financial institutions.

From: The Regulatory Review

Robin Ellison

Lawmakers should be trained to limit excessive regulation.

One of President Donald J. Trump’s earliest executive orders, like those of many of his predecessors, was devoted to reducing regulatory burdens. This goal was not exceptional; most developed jurisdictions around the word have similar ambitions. The United Kingdom, for example, has established a policy that calls for eliminating three regulations for every one new regulation—although this policy is not implemented in practice. Canada and Australia have legislation dedicated to reducing regulation. Similarly, the European Union has an entire body devoted to regulatory reduction; related EU guidance notes are over 600 pages long.

From: The Regulatory Review

Jerry Ellig

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The administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), Neomi Rao, has argued that regulations from independent agencies should be subject to the same economic analysis standards and review procedures as regulations from executive branch agencies. Sixteen state governors and attorneys general signed a letter requesting that President Donald J. Trump issue an executive order to accomplish that goal. Former OIRA administrators of both political parties agree. Requiring economic analysis and OIRA review is also one of the statutory regulatory process reforms that enjoys bipartisan support in Congress. Legal scholars like Cass Sunstein, Jonathan Masur and Eric A. Posner predict that federal courts will eventually adopt the doctrine that it is arbitrary for an agency to ignore economic factors if the authorizing statute does not prohibit the agency from considering them.

From: Government Executive

By Charles S. Clark

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Regulatory Reform

The Office of Management and Budget, run by Richard Darman sought to reduce agency spending and rein in regulations. In a push that Trump-era observers would recognize, the first President Bush sought to “weed out unnecessary and burdensome government regulations, which impose needless costs on consumers and substantially impede economic growth,” read the goal reported by National Journal in April 1992. “The Federal Register has joined Weight Watchers,” the publication observed.

Editor’s Note: See also Regulations.Gov Should Be Controlled by the Federal Register and it Should Include the Administrative Record.

From: Notice & Comment | A Blog from the Yale Journal on Regulation and the ABA Section of Administrative Law & Regulatory Practice

by Emily Bremer

The Administrative Conference will host its 70th Plenary Session on December 13th and 14th, 2018.  Once again, the meeting will be held at the George Washington University Law School, Jacob Burns Moot Court Room, 2000 H Street NW, Washington, DC 20052.  The Assembly is set to consider five proposed recommendations.  From the Federal Register notice, these recommendations address the following subjects: