International Tax Guidance Likely by Thanksgiving
Oct 9th
From: Bloomberg
By Lydia O’Neal, Emma Beyer, Alison Bennett, Siri Bulusu, Sony Kassam, Isabel Gottlieb, Andrew M. Ballard and Robert Lee
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Hiring Continues at OMB, Treasury Has ‘Primary Expertise’
The OMB is continuing to hire tax specialists to handle 2017 tax overhaul regulations, Chief of Staff Anthony Campau said.
“The process is in full swing,” he told Bloomberg Tax. He didn’t provide details on how many specialists the office was hiring.
Trump Deregulatory Effort May Just Be Getting Started
Oct 5th
From: Government Executive
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“I think the pace of reform is continuing to accelerate,” Neomi Rao, administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, told a panel at Bloomberg Government last week. “Some of the major deregulatory actions have just taken this much time to finalize.”
With many in the Republican Congress on board for the agency-by-agency effort, the broader effort to philosophically redirect regulatory policies may focus on curbing the impact of what Rao and others refer to as “regulatory dark matter.” That alludes to agency-generated guidance, FAQs and information collecting she says can function as a “back door to imposing more regulation.” Such supplementary documents, Rao has said, unfairly exclude the public and violate due process.
USMCA Lauds the Irreplaceable Role of Centralized Regulatory Review
Oct 4th
Editor’s Note: The complete text of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USCMA) is available here. The following is an excerpt from Chapter 28, Good Regulatory Practices. [Emphasis added]
Article 28.3: Central Regulatory Coordinating Body
Recognizing that institutional arrangements are particular to each system of governance, the Parties note the important role of their respective central regulatory coordinating bodies in promoting good regulatory practices among their regulatory authorities; performing key advisory, coordination and review functions to improve the quality of regulations; and developing improvements to their regulatory system. The Parties intend to maintain their respective central regulatory coordinating bodies, within their respective mandates and consistent with their law.
25 Years of E.O. 12866
Oct 2nd
Editor’s Note: See also The Iconic Executive Order 12291: The Precedent for the Preservation of Critical Executive Orders and The 50th Anniversary of Centralized Regulatory Review.
From: GW Regulatory Studies Center
By: Mark Febrizio, Daniel R. Pérez, & Zhoudan Xie
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Rao acknowledged that the Administration was contemplating extending E.O. 12866 to independent regulatory agencies, an action supported by Richard Revesz, Lawrence King Professor of Law & Dean Emeritus at NYU Law School and Director of the Institute for Policy Integrity. He stated that some independent financial agencies face court challenges on their rules due to their lack of expertise in regulatory analysis. In such cases, OIRA could provide the expertise and help independent agencies address related issues.
In/Site: OIRA Administrator Neomi Rao
Sep 28th
From: Bloomberg Government
On September 25, Bloomberg Government hosted a client-exclusive breakfast with the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) Administrator Neomi Rao.
Moderated by Bloomberg Government’s Cheryl Bolen, the conversation and Q&A session covered the recent MOA with the Treasury Department, along with the Administrator’s goals and priorities for regulatory policy moving into 2019.
Watch the replay below.
Walden, Hatch request stringent OMB review of proposed drug rebate rule
Aug 21st
From: The Ripon Advance
U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) and U.S. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT) have requested that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) intensely review the economic impact of a proposed drug rebate rule before approving and publishing the rule.
OMB currently is reviewing the proposed Removal Of Safe Harbor Protection for Rebates to Plans or PBMs Involving Prescription Pharmaceuticals and Creation of New Safe Harbor Protection rule, submitted jointly on July 18 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Office of the Inspector General (OIG). The proposed HHS/OIG rule would alter the use of rebates commonly used during negotiations between drug manufacturers and pharmacy benefit managers.
GAO Questions Figures on Burdens Agencies Impose
Aug 17th
Editor’s Note: See also Comments to ACUS on the Paperwork Reduction Act here and GAO’s Report “PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT: Agencies Could Better Leverage Review Processes and Public Outreach to Improve Burden Estimates, here.
From: FEDWeek
GAO has questioned the accuracy of agency reports on the hour and cost burdens they impose on the public through their information collection requests, “in part because of lack of clear guidance from OMB.”
“Inconsistencies in estimating respondent time costs could lead to inconsistent implementation of new requirements under Executive Order 13771 that agencies offset the incremental costs of new regulations with reductions in regulatory burden, including paperwork burden, elsewhere,” it added.
Former Thomas clerks are a presence in Trump administration
Aug 8th
From: Missouri Lawyers Weekly
Associated Press
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Trump’s choice of Neomi Rao as administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs is illustrative of how former Thomas clerks also are shaping administration policy. Rao was a well-regarded critic of Obama-era regulations who had founded the Center for the Study of the Administrative State at George Mason University in Virginia with backing from the Koch brothers.
In her White House post, Rao has overseen the move to eliminate hundreds of regulations, to the consternation of watchdog groups and the cheers of a wide range of industry groups.
OMB Seeks Comment on Proposal to Create a Government Effectiveness Advanced Research (GEAR) Center
Aug 3rd
From: Notice & Comment | A Blog from the Yale Journal on Regulation and the ABA Section of Administrative Law & Regulatory Practice
by Emily Bremer
The proposed GEAR Center is described as “a public-private partnership to improve mission delivery, citizen services, and stewardship of public resources.” OMB is requesting comments by September 14, 2018 from the public, academics, experts, and industry. The Request for Information (RFI) appears to have been only been posted online, with a shorter notice of its availability published in the Federal Register. From that Federal Register notice, which is out for public inspection today:
Federal Data Strategy: Team
Aug 1st
From: Strategy.data.gov
The Federal Data Strategy Development Team is comprised of a core group of cross-disciplinary data experts from across the Federal Government.
The Leveraging Data as a Strategic Asset Cross Agency Priority (CAP) Goal commits the Administration to developing a long-term comprehensive Federal Data Strategy. Senior officials from the Department of Commerce, the Small Business Administration, the Office of Management and Budget, and the Office of Science and Technology Policy co-lead the CAP Goal. Co-lead staff members serve as a project managers supporting and facilitating the development of the Federal Data Strategy with significant stakeholder input. Select Federal Data Fellowship Chairs and Fellows conduct research and analysis; facilitate stakeholders; and distill feedback for the Federal Data Strategy.