Archive for September, 2013
The Socratic Method: Cass Sunstein
Sep 23rd
From: The Harvard Law Record — Independent at Harvard Law School Since 1946
Professor Sunstein recently returned to HLS after 3 years as the head of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), a position he described as being in the “cockpit of the regulatory state.”
The Socratic Method: As you may know, the Harvard Law Record has been online-only for a while and we are bringing back a print edition. We thought it would be interesting to talk about legal education and the role of Harvard Law School in American society with a number of professors. To start with, when and why did you decide to become a law professor?
The Federal CIO Council Gets Reorganized
Sep 17th
From: Beye Network
by Dr. Ramon Barquin
The Federal CIO Council (CIOC) has been around since the mid-1990s. It was created by Executive Order (EO) 13011 of July 16, 1996, which addressed a series of items dealing with federal information technology.
In typical Washington fashion, the White House had to issue EO 13011 in order to get agencies to implement many of the provisions mandated by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 and the Information Technology Management Reform Act of 1996, better known as the Clinger-Cohen Act. Eventually, many of the provisions of EO 13011 were incorporated into a statute of its own, the E-Government Act of 2002.
Costs, Benefits, and the Non-Political Nature of OIRA Review
Sep 15th
From: RegBlog
Cass R. Sunstein
I want to conclude my discussion of the myths and realities of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) by saying something about costs and benefits – and about politics. Costs and benefits are really important. I went into OIRA being a fan of cost-benefit analysis. As with Bruce Springsteen, where the more you hear him the better he sounds, the same is true, I think, with cost-benefit analysis.
OIRA and the Public
Sep 12th
From: RegBlog
Cass R. Sunstein
So far we have covered the internal process of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA). There’s also OIRA’s external meetings, something that’s gotten a lot of attention in academic circles and which actually bears on political life generally. OIRA will meet with anyone who wants to come in and talk about a rule under review. One thing that I did was to rework our web site, RegInfo.gov. I’m sure some of you probably already go on it, but RegInfo.gov has all the rules under review, and it’s extremely clear. You can see it all at a glance. If anyone wants to come in and talk to OIRA about a rule under review, please do.
“doubling OIRA’s…budget sounds like a bargain”
Sep 8th
From: Roll Call
More Resources for Regulatory Review Would Benefit Consumers
By Jerry Ellig and Rosemarie Fike
Regulatory advocates charge that 120 regulations are “stalled” at the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, the office that reviews executive branch regulations before they can be proposed or finalized. OIRA was singled out for criticism at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, “The Human Cost of Regulatory Paralysis,” held just before the August recess. On the other side of the Capitol, OIRA Administrator Howard Shelanski told the House Small Business Committee that this year’s sequester and furloughs have limited OIRA’s ability to conduct retrospective reviews of regulations.