House Passes Regulatory Reform Bills

Last week the House passed the Regulatory Accountability Act and the Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act. These bills would require agencies to seek more in depth scientific data before pursuing and imposing regulations, while requiring agencies to identify overall costs new regulations would impose on small businesses, and to then write the regulations in such a way that costs would be reduced. So often those in the agriculture industry are impeded by imposed regulations that were not properly and thoroughly investigated; regulations that seem geared more towards activist groups without a working knowledge and understanding of agriculture. There are those that see the passing of these bills as a federally endorsed attempt by large corporations to make it more difficult for agencies to protect the public. They also feel that it would cater to large business interests, while overriding the concerns of small businesses. But perhaps the RAA & RFIA, if both now go on to be passed by the Senate, will do more for small businesses and small family farms by protecting them from improperly evaluated and costly regulations.