Reg Analysis Office Pushed

Declaring that "defects in our basic regulatory laws are the major shortcoming in the American regulatory system," a leading Washington-based research organization today proposed that Congress create "its own professional, nonpartisan regulatory analysis organization to provide it with reliable data," including estimates on benefits and costs.

The recommendation, contained in a report by the Committee for Economic Development, comes as two pieces of legislation relating to federal regulation are awaiting floor action on Capitol Hill: a regulatory reform bill by Senate Governmental Affairs Committee chairman Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., and Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., and a bill to create a Congressional Office of Regulatory Affairs, sponsored by House Small Business Chairman Talent and Rep. Sue Kelly, R-N.Y.

But while these plans are largely aimed at reining in agency regulations promulgated following passage of a law, the CED report contended Congress needs to take a closer look at regulatory bills prior to passage.

"We recommend that Congress be required to assess the likely effects of regulatory proposals before they become law and explicitly affirm that anticipated benefits justify expected costs," said Josh Weston, chairman of CED's Research and Policy Committee.

The CED report declared: "Congress far too often grants overly broad authority to regulators because it cannot or will not resolve major conflicts over objectives in its legislation. ... As a result, administrators have leeway to act in a capricious manner."

Besides creating a Hill office to analyze pending legislation and existing regulatory programs, the report also recommended that Congress "codify in a single statute a requirement that regulatory agencies analyze the impact of significant regulatory initiatives before they are undertaken." The Thompson-Levin legislation would require cost-benefit studies of regulations with economic impacts of at least $100 a year.

The CED report also recommended that congressional committees, when writing a regulatory statute, "articulate the expected benefits and costs of the regulatory program in the report accompanying the legislation." And it said Congress "should create a statutory requirement that it use cost-benefit analysis in its consideration of regulatory legislation."

The CED is a nonpartisan group of 250 business leaders and educators; two veterans of past Republican administrations played key roles in preparing today's report. Roderick Hills, chairman of the SEC under President Ford, headed the task force of business and academic leaders that oversaw the report's development, while Murray Weidenbaum--chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers under President Reagan--served as project director for the study.