The Senate Thursday approved a measure that would require the federal government to report the benefits and costs of its regulatory programs to the public.
Senate Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., proposed the legislation as an addition to the Treasury-Postal Appropriations bill, which is currently working its way through the Senate.
"It's time that we acknowledge the public's right to know the benefits and costs of government regulations," Thompson said. "[This legislation] will shed light on the benefits and burdens of federal regulations, and it will hold federal regulators more accountable to make smart, cost-effective decisions that get real results."
The amendment would require the Office of Management and Budget to provide Congress with an accounting statement of the total annual benefits and costs of federal regulatory programs every two years, along with a summary of public comments and suggestions for improving the regulatory system. The amendment also requires peer review of the accounting statements, which Thompson said will "greatly improve the quality of the reports."
The Thompson amendment makes permanent a measure passed in 1996 requiring regulatory cost accounting.
Thompson said federal regulation costs about $700 billion a year, or $7,000 per American household.
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