Regulatory Reform Stalled

THE DAILY FED

Regulatory Reform Stalled

Overhauling the federal regulatory process has been a Republican priority since the GOP takeover of Congress in 1994. But Senate efforts at regulatory reform process are being slowed by the investigation into alleged campaign finance abuses in the 1996 election.

Senate Governmental Affairs Chairman Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., is taking the lead on regulatory reform at the behest of Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., sources said, but some staff who would be working on that issue are occupied by the Thompson panel's campaign finance investigation.

A committee spokesman said Thompson is committed to producing a bill, but could not say when the panel may take up the measure. The spokesman said discussions toward a bill are continuing at the staff level and that the committee could hold hearings on the issue simultaneously with the campaign finance hearings. But other sources said negotiations are on hold until issues related to the campaign finance investigation are resolved.

Another committee with jurisdiction over regulatory reform -- Judiciary -- has its hands full with the balanced budget constitutional amendment and other issues, a spokeswoman said, and has no immediate plans to take up regulatory reform.

Lott earlier this year said he wants regulatory reform to be a high priority, with one source saying Lott wants a bipartisan, consensus bill. In addition, Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., a Governmental Affairs Committee member, also indicated strong interest in working on a bill. Another source said the issue can move forward when Thompson and Lott have time to get together and agree on a bill. But a spokeswoman said the delay on regulatory reform is "a great disappointment" to Levin. "Color him discouraged," she said.

Environmental and consumer groups have expressed dismay at Levin's interest in regulatory reform. These groups worked hard in 1995 to defeat comprehensive regulatory reform legislation sponsored by then-Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, R-Kan., and hope to avoid a fight over the issue this year. In addition, business groups that strongly supported the Dole measure are leery of revisiting the issue because opponents of the measure were able to portray supporters as anti-environmental.

An industry source said the business community is interested in incremental progress on regulatory reform, building on laws such as the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act passed in the last Congress. The source said the Levin effort falls under this category -- focusing on making the regulatory process more open to public scrutiny and more accountable.

The business community, however, "is not beating drums on the Hill" for the bill, the source said, adding most of the interest in passing a bill comes from senators themselves.