Time Out Suggested for Regulations

A bill introduced yesterday in the U.S. Senate may put a year long halt on all significant new federal regulations. The Regulatory Time Out Act, co-sponsored by Missouri Senator Roy Blunt, defines significant new regulations as those that will cost more than $100 million dollars a year. Blunt says the federal bureaucracy is working on 4,200 new rules for the 83,000 page Federal Register, with that rule book growing 77% since the presidency of Ronald Reagan. The Regulatory Time Out Act would not apply to rules that address imminent threats to health or safety, or rules dealing with the military, the criminal justice system, or foreign affairs.