“Regulations do have costs; often, as a country, we have to make tough decisions about whether those costs are necessary.”

With the American people suffering through a lackluster economic recovery, the dearth of jobs is evidence that the hyperregulation of the Obama administration and Congressional Democrats is indeed costing us a lot in terms of lost opportunity.  Consider the findings of the Phoenix Center for Advanced Legal and Economic Public Policy Studies.  In a recent paper titled Regulatory Expenditures, Economic Growth, and Jobs: An Empirical Study, econometric analysis of fifty years of data found:

• “[E]ven a small 5% reduction in the regulatory budget (about $2.8 billion) will result in about $75 billion in expanded private sector GDP each year, with an increase in employment by 1.2 million jobs annually.”

• “On average, eliminating the job of a single regulator grows the American economy by $6.2 million and nearly 100 private sector jobs annually.  Conversely, each million dollar increase in the regulatory budget costs the economy 420 private sector jobs.”

In order to ease the regulatory burden on the economy and to promote job creation, we will approve legislation that requires a congressional review and approval of any proposed federal government regulation that will have a significant impact on the economy.

While such legislation will impact future regulations, House Committees are actively conducting an audit of existing and pending regulations to identify and address those that are hindering economic growth.

Additionally, the House passed H.Res. 72 on February 11, 2011, a resolution that would direct ten standing committees to inventory and review existing, pending, and proposed government regulations by agencies within their jurisdiction.  While conducting the inventory and review, each committee is required to identify each regulation’s effect on jobs and economic growth.