WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Rick Scott was joined by Senators Tom Cotton, Thom Tillis, James Risch, Mike Crapo, Ron Johnson, Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz and Eric Schmitt to reintroduce the Unnecessary Agency Regulations Reduction Act to reduce burdensome government regulations and more efficiently dispose of outdated, duplicative or unnecessary agency regulations. This legislation will create a mechanism to eliminate multiple regulations originating from federal executive branch agencies in a joint resolution.

The Unnecessary Agency Regulations Reduction Act is endorsed by Heritage Action, FreedomWorks, Americans for Prosperity, the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), the National Taxpayers Union, the R Street Institute and the Competitive Enterprise Institute.

Senator Rick Scott said, “Washington’s complete dysfunction is on full display. Everywhere you look you see a confusing web of outdated regulations, duplicative processes and burdensome red tape within our federal agencies, some of which haven’t been reviewed or used by these agencies for decades. It’s inefficient and a complete waste of tax dollars. Our Unnecessary Agency Regulations Reduction Act will streamline the federal government to make it work better for the American people. We did this in Florida when I was governor, cutting more than 5,000 burdensome regulations, and businesses thrived. With Joe Biden and Democrats’ overreaching and inflation-fueling policies hurting American families, it’s about time we bring this commonsense approach nationwide.”

Senator Tom Cotton said, “Washington’s confusing web of regulations creates headaches and expenses for Americans in every industry. Our bill would eliminate outdated and duplicative regulations so that businesses can thrive.”

Senator James Risch said, “Burdensome federal regulations and red tape hinder America’s economic growth and diminish Idahoans’ desire to pursue new entrepreneurial ventures. “It is past time to weed out – like we have in Idaho – duplicative, outdated, and absurd regulations. With the Unnecessary Agency Regulations Reduction Act, Congress would create a streamlined process to monitor and audit federal regulations in order to more easily and quickly remove futile regulations that have long plagued business owners.”

Senator Mike Crapo said, “America is not made strong by a large central government that overspends. By limiting the federal government’s size and reach, we can help reduce spending and restore the balance of power established in the U.S. Constitution. Congress should advance legislation helping to take a fresh look at federal agency operations to identify how federal functions can be updated and simplified.”

Senator Ron Johnson said, “The Unnecessary Agency Regulations Reduction Act will afford taxpayers relief from burdensome and outdated regulations. This legislation is a great step towards reducing regulatory burden and limiting the explosive growth of government.”

Senator Eric Schmitt said, “The administrative state is comprised of thousands of unelected bureaucrats at alphabet agencies who exercise their immense power over the lives of Americans through ridiculous regulations and red tape. We need to reduce the regulatory burden on Americans and to claw that power away from unelected bureaucrats. I’m proud to join Senator Scott’s bill that aims to do just that.”

Senator Ted Cruz said, "The extensive list of regulations imposed upon American families and businesses is incredibly burdensome. We need to rein in bureaucratic overreach by the federal government and stop additions of this unnecessary red tape. It’s time we work efficiently and cut the pork out of our overbearing and all-too-large bureaucracy."

Ryan Walker, Executive Vice President, Heritage Action, said, “The American economy is being smothered by the Biden administration’s heavy-handed regulatory state. Through the Securities Exchange Commission, the Environmental Protection Agency, and countless other executive branch departments and agencies, President Biden has advanced his environmental, labor, and diversity agendas, which reduces Americans’ freedom and productivity. Reining in the out of control federal bureaucracy is an important step towards ensuring that Americans can flourish. Senator Scott’s Unnecessary Agency Regulations Reduction Act would be a good start, as it would require administrations to search for and report to Congress on outdated, duplicative, or unnecessary regulations.”

Marc Marie, Policy Fellow, Americans for Prosperity, said “The cost of Federal regulations is enormous. Some estimates suggest that all together they cost American consumers and businesses $1.9 trillion every year. Senator Rick Scott’s Unnecessary Agency Regulations Reduction Act will be a valuable tool as Congress begins identifying and peeling back those Federal regulations that are duplicative, burdensome, or outdated.”

Kevin Kuhlman, Vice President of Federal Government Relations at NFIB, said, “Since 2021, President Biden has imposed a historic regulatory burden on businesses. These burdens fall disproportionately on small businesses that do not have lawyers or compliance officers to assist with onerous requirements. NFIB’s Small Business Legal Center has also demonstrated that federal agencies often disregard the requirements of the Regulatory Flexibility Act to consider the impacts of regulations on small businesses. Small businesses across the country appreciate Senator Rick Scott’s focus on examining regulatory accumulation through legislation like the Unnecessary Agency Regulations Reduction Act. We look forward to working with the Senator on ways to reduce the regulatory burdens and red tape that make operating and growing a small business more difficult.”

Brandon Arnold, Executive Vice President of National Taxpayers Union, said, "National Taxpayers Union is pleased to support Sen. Rick Scott's Unnecessary Agency Regulations Reduction Act, which would provide much-needed scrutiny to the growing regulatory burden that harms families, entrepreneurs, and American competitiveness. Congress should pass this legislation immediately and begin the long-overdue process of reviewing and repealing unneeded regulations.”

Jonathan Bydlak, The R Street Institute Policy Director, Governance Program, said "The R Street Institute is pleased to once again endorse Senator Scott's Unnecessary Agency Regulations Reduction Act. For too long, the American economy has suffered from the drag of outdated, duplicative, or nonsensical rules. All administrations should take regular inventory of such strains placed on the economy and work with Congress to repeal those that no longer make sense. This bill seeks to do just that.”

Clyde Wayne Crews, Fred L. Smith Fellow in Regulatory Studies at Competitive Enterprise Institute, said, “Congress is often called upon to reassert its primary legislative role and end its practice of over-delegation. The purging of unnecessary rules and regulations is central to that mission. The expansive legislative efforts in COVID’s wake escalated under the Biden administration are already spawning new regulation and sub-regulatory guidance, a trickle likely to become a flood; thus making the need for the Unnecessary Agency Regulations Act even more apparent.”

The Unnecessary Agency Regulations Reduction Act would create the following process:

• Beginning two years after enactment, the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) will annually—

• Compile and maintain a list of all planned agency major rules or sets of major rules for the period covered by the submission; and
• Compile a list of outdated, duplicative or burdensome agency regulations to consolidate or repeal.

• OIRA will also consider GAO’s Duplication Overlap and Fragmentation (DOF) annual audit of programs to identify any duplicative, outdated, or burdensome regulations associated with the programs, agencies, offices, and initiatives identified in their report.
• The OIRA Administrator will include the list of major rules in each of the President’s Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions reports.
• No later than 30 days after the OIRA Administrator submits the list of major rules to Congress, each appropriate congressional committee shall review and then compile the final list of regulations to consolidate or repeal into a single joint resolution.
• This legislation is tied to the Congressional Review Act, which requires the measure to receive expedited consideration in each house of Congress.

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