Senate Governmental Affairs Chairman Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., is shopping around a new regulatory accounting bill, the introduction of which should come within the week, Thompson told CongressDaily Tuesday.
In an interview, Thompson said the point of the new legislation is "accountability ... [and] producing better regulations. It has to do with keeping up better with what is going on. Too often we pass bills that authorize more regulations ... [and] many are inconsistent."
Thompson's regulatory accounting bill, which would require federal agencies to do periodic tallies of total regulatory costs imposed on the regulated community, not only complements his larger regulatory reform proposal, Thompson said, but "would be a tool to help us keep up with [regulations being passed]."
Thompson also was quick to note that his interest in a regulatory accounting bill should not be construed as a death knell for his regulatory reform measure, which has foundered, somewhat, due to uneven support among Republicans.
"They are two separate tracks," he said. Thompson contended that prospects are looking up on the regulatory reform front, especially as additional Republican senators recently agreed to cosponsor the bill.
Thompson's regulatory accounting bill, a copy of which was obtained by CongressDaily, tracks closely with regulatory accounting legislation introduced last year by House Commerce Chairman Thomas Bliley, R-Va.
Like the House bill, the Senate measure would require federal agencies to prepare and submit accounting statements every two years outlining the costs and benefits of federal programs.
Following each submittal, the administration also would be responsible for reporting to Congress on "jurisdictional overlaps, duplications and potential inconsistencies among federal programs," as well as making recommendations for reform.
In addition, the Thompson measure would require the Office of Management and Budget to make recommendations for improving the level of accuracy, detail and quality of analysis in those reports.
Sources said Thompson's staff is especially eager for Democratic cosponsors, especially because that party's objections to the bill are expected to be the most pronounced.
While supporters in the House and Senate of the regulatory accounting measure portray it as benign legislation designed to enhance public understanding of how much federal agency rules cost them, critics of the concept see the legislation as much more insidious.
Gary Bass, executive director of OMB Watch, said, "[Regulatory accounting] is not only a slippery slope, it's a downhill glide."
Critics like Bass contend that regulatory accounting is little more than a precursor to regulatory budgeting, a concept made popular during the Reagan administration and subsequently incorporated into the GOP's 1994 Contract With America.
The principle behind regulatory budgeting is that agencies would be able to impose rules so long as the resulting costs imposed on the regulated community do not exceed a preset limit.
But Keith Cole, an attorney with Beveridge & Diamond and a former top staffer on the Senate Small Business Committee, said while regulatory accounting is a necessary precursor to regulatory budgeting, one does not necessarily follow from the other.
"There are huge institutional barriers between a regulatory accounting bill and a regulatory budgeting act," Cole said. "There is no way we can slide from point A to point B without momentum."
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