From: Bloomberg View
Republican presidential candidate and former Florida governor Jeb Bush has just released a plan for regulatory reform. Though there are a few clunkers, many of his ideas are excellent. (I have had some experience on these issues; from 2009 to 2013, I helped oversee regulation under President Barack Obama, as Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.)
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Also excellent: Reform the process of “sue-and-settle,” in which public interest groups sue federal agencies to force them to issue rules. In some cases, the agencies don’t really disagree, but have refrained from acting in part because of political constraints. Once an agency enters into a settlement agreement, it’s under a legal obligation to act within a specified amount of time.
That’s a problem, because the public may not get a sufficient chance to comment on the regulation, and because OIRA review will be limited by the settlement agreement. Bush wants to ensure a more vigorous process of public scrutiny and OIRA review before regulations are submitted to courts. That step would rein in unnecessary costs.