Dear Friend,
We all know federal regulations are a part of daily life, and many regulations have an important role to play in our society, especially when it comes to safety. However, the amount of red tape coming out of Washington is truly astonishing.
For example, in just the first 3 days of 2014, the federal government had already listed 141 new regulations that were posted by federal agencies. So it’s no surprise to learn that in 2013 alone 80,224 pages of regulations were added to the Federal Register.
Last year, the federal government imposed an additional $112 billion in new regulatory costs and 157.9 million paperwork hours on Americans and businesses. This not only hurts taxpayers and small business owners, it directly contributes to slow economic growth.
This week, the House voted to fix a federal regulation that has caused a tremendous amount of unnecessary harm. Currently, there is a federal regulation to protect a 3-inch fish - the Delta smelt - which has led to the diversion of hundreds of billions of gallons of water away from farmers, cost thousands of farm workers their jobs, and led to skyrocketing unemployment in several communities. This regulation has led to a domino effect of unintended consequences and it’s an example of how Washington doesn’t always know what is best for local communities.
When we talk about creating an environment for economic growth, reducing the amount of burdensome regulations is a good place to start.
Sincerely,
Kay Granger