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Press Release Published: Oct 25, 2012

Obama Administration Refuses to Release New Regulations Agenda

WASHINGTON- The Obama Administration is stalling the release of a legally required summary of upcoming new regulations originally due in Spring 2012. The Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions (Unified Agenda) has been withheld by the Administration for several months, and four House of Representatives leaders sent a letter today asking why.

The Unified Agenda discloses planned new regulations at agencies, allowing businesses to prepare for potential changes.

“This lack of transparency raises questions about the motives behind the Administration’s apparent reluctance to inform Congress and the public about its regulatory plans.  Due to the impending election, it does raise concerns that the Administration is holding back this information for fear it will be met with dissatisfaction by the public, or even worse, perceived as breaking the Administration’s promise of regulatory reform,” write Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., Rep. Howard Coble, R-NC, and Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio.

Smith and Issa respectively chair the House Judiciary Committee and House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Coble and Jordan chair the regulatory subcommittees.

“This Administration has failed to live up to its own transparency standards by failing to release basic regulatory documents which provide transparency about agencies’ plans to regulate and allow the public to assess the regulatory state,” the chairmen write.

The White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, which oversees the production of the report, required all agencies to submit their proposed regulatory plan by April 13, 2012. Previous Spring Unified Agendas have been released between April and July.

You can read a copy of the letter here.

 
Related Documents
Name Document
October 25, 2012 Letter to OIRA Regarding New Regulation Agenda Document