[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 31 (Tuesday, February 25, 2014)]
[House]
[Page H1883]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             UMITA AND UMRA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
North Carolina (Ms. Foxx) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about H.R. 899, the 
Unfunded Mandates Information and Transparency Act, which will be 
considered by the House later this week. I realize, Mr. Speaker, that 
this name doesn't come trippingly off the tongue, but it is an 
important piece of legislation.
  Every year, Federal agencies impose thousands of regulatory mandates 
on local governments and small businesses. Those mandates are often 
costly, stretching city and State budgets and making it harder for 
businesses in North Carolina and around the country to grow and add 
jobs.
  UMITA will force Washington to think much more carefully about 
regulatory costs before passing them on to small businesses and local 
governments. This bill will ensure that regulations are enacted only 
when the benefits to be gleaned by a rule outweigh the costs imposed by 
the rule.
  Ultimately, this bill is about transparency and accountability, 
something Democrats and Republicans can support with equal fervor.
  Mr. Speaker, I began the process of writing this legislation in 2007. 
Knowing that it takes a lot of creativity and hard work to pass 
legislation, I sat down with my staff to think about legislative ideas 
that could gain sufficient bipartisan support to be enacted.
  We started looking at the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995, which 
cleared a Republican Congress before being signed by President Clinton. 
UMRA was a model for bipartisan legislating, so we looked to it for 
ideas.
  The guiding principle of UMRA was that the American people would be 
better served by a government that regulates only on the basis of good 
information, including a cost-benefit analysis. UMRA was a good bill, 
but over time, shortcomings have become apparent. Multiple 
administrations over the past 19 years have attempted to fix loopholes 
in UMRA via executive actions.
  Additionally, independent regulatory agencies have become far more 
prevalent in the intervening years, so it is very important to make 
sure they are bound by the same transparency requirements as other 
regulatory bodies.
  To address these issues, we drafted the Unfunded Mandates Information 
and Transparency Act. UMITA will codify these executive fixes and fix 
some currently unaddressed loopholes to make sure that Federal agencies 
are in compliance with the spirit of UMRA.
  Mr. Speaker, like UMRA, UMITA is bipartisan legislation. Three out of 
four cosponsors are Democrats. This bill has gained bipartisan support 
because it is purely about good government, fostering openness and 
honesty about the cost of regulations. Specifically, UMITA will require 
government's independent regulatory agencies to analyze the cost of 
their proposed mandates before they are imposed on the public; treat 
``changes to conditions of grant aid'' as mandates, guarantee the 
public always has the opportunity to weigh in on regulations; and equip 
Congress and the American people with better tools to determine the 
true cost of regulations.
  Finally, H.R. 899 will ensure government is held accountable for 
following these rules. If the requirements set for by UMRA and UMITA 
are not met, a judicial stay may be placed upon regulations.
  UMITA is a bipartisan solution to a bipartisan problem: unaccountable 
Federal agencies damaging our economy with poorly considered 
regulations.
  I look forward to broad support from my colleagues from both sides of 
the aisle when it is considered on Friday.

                          ____________________