CED: Change Regulatory Laws, Not Just Rules

Like many other business groups, the Committee for Economic Development (CED) is calling for regulatory reform. But unlike others, it urges changes in regulatory laws, not just in regulations themselves. "While previous reform efforts have focused on rulemaking by regulatory agencies," the New York-based organization argues in a report issued Apr. 1, "defects in our basic regulatory laws are the major shortcoming in the American regulatory system." CED specifically urges Congress to: require Congressional committees to affirm that the benefits of new regulatory legislation exceeds costs, establish a nonpartisan agency to provide such cost-benefit analysis, eliminate provisions in existing laws that prevent regulatory agencies from considering costs while designing regulations, and require the Executive Branch to improve regulatory analysis and review of proposed and existing regulations.