WASHINGTON — Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, released a report Friday presenting the findings of a bipartisan outreach project to better understand the impact of federal regulations on the economy. Since 2014, the committee has passed five bipartisan regulatory reform bills.
“One of my priorities as chairman has been to improve the regulatory process. As a former manufacturer, I know how difficult it can be to navigate these burdensome regulations. So I worked with my colleagues to seek out the views of individuals and companies affected by federal overregulation,” Johnson said.
Johnson was joined by Senators Tom Carper (D-Del.), James Lankford (R-Okla.) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) in sending letters to businesses, trade associations, consumer advocacy groups and environmental groups, seeking their input. The senators received more than 50 responses. The stakeholders’ views are summarized and presented in the 1036-page report, titled, “Direct from the Source: Understanding Regulations from the Inside Out.”
Johnson said, “I was encouraged to hear President Obama confront the problem of burdensome regulations in his State of the Union address when he said, ‘I believe a thriving private sector is the lifeblood of our economy. I think there are outdated regulations that need to be changed, and there’s red tape that needs to be cut.’
“I couldn’t agree more,” said Johnson. “Our committee will continue to work in a bipartisan fashion to address the problem that President Obama highlighted in his speech and work to provide regulatory relief to American families and businesses to strengthen our economy.”
Click here to read the full report.
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