Senate Backs Bill Blocking Agencies’ Rules

Moving to assert new authority over the executive branch, the Senate unanimously approved legislation Wednesday that would give Congress power to block all rules issued by federal agencies aimed at protecting the environment and public health and safety.

The 100-0 vote was a big victory for American business, which has complained for years about what it says are onerous rules that stifle competitiveness, and a defeat for consumer, public interest and environmental groups.

“Regulations are a hidden tax on every American and they must be brought under control,” said Sen. Don Nickles (R-Okla.), the bill’s co-author.

Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), the other co-author, called the measure an antidote to “regulatory excesses” and the “armies of bureaucrats (who) are turning simple laws into complex rules that go way beyond congressional intent.”

The Republican-initiated drive to curtail administrative rule-making began earlier this year in the House, which has adopted a year-long moratorium on the issuance of new regulations--pending congressional enactment of broader regulatory reforms.

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But the Senate bill takes a different approach. It gives Congress--on a permanent basis--45 days to block any new rule from taking effect that has a projected economic impact of $100 million or more. Such a process would require a majority vote by both houses. A President could veto the congressional action blocking a rule, but Congress could override with a two-thirds vote. Only emergency rules would be exempt from such congressional review.

Both bills would be retroactive to Nov. 20, 1994.

The differences between the House and Senate bills must be resolved in a conference committee and the prospects for a compromise were not clear Wednesday. House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), who drafted the House version with considerable input from business lobbyists, is said to be determined to retain the moratorium, while Nickles said that he hopes Senate negotiators can persuade the House to accept the Senate approach.

Consumer advocacy groups have assailed both measures but particularly the House version, as a hindrance to public and environmental protection and an invitation to special interests to assert themselves in the rule-making process.

The Senate vote Wednesday also was noteworthy because it came on a day that may mark something of a turning point in this Congress.

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Since the Republicans took control of the House in January, they have all but tripped over one another in a drive to reduce congressional prerogatives and authority. They have trimmed committee staffs by one-third, eliminated three House committees, killed funding for legislative service organizations and given the President a line-item veto to delete congressional appropriations and some tax measures.

But that tide began shifting Wednesday.

In the House, members voted late in the day to kill the proposed constitutional amendment to impose congressional term limits.

With the Senate vote giving Congress what amounts to a “legislative veto” over rule-making, said Reid, “we are reasserting the powers of the legislative branch.”

Federal agencies now write detailed rules and regulations to carry out laws passed by Congress. But there is no expedited procedure for Congress to significantly alter, much less block, such rules and regulations--short of amending or changing the underlying law, according to staff members for Reid and Nickles.

Although Reid and Nickles conceded that their bill raises the specter of Congress getting bogged down in bureaucratic minutia, they said that is unlikely. “My guess is that we’ll reject a very small percentage,” Nickles said.