In his testimony, Graham encouraged Congress to use a new “regulatory budget” to take political accountability for costs it imposes on businesses, according to an IU release.
Graham urged Congress to design a project that would allow three agencies to work under a regulatory budget for several years, according to the release.
If successful, a pilot could be extended to the federal government.
However, Graham, who served as the administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the White House Office of Management and Budget during the Bush administration, cautioned that moving theory to reality is a key issue in regulatory budgeting.
The hearing was described by committee Chairman Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., as an effort to move to a stronger economy through regulatory budgeting, according to the release.
In his testimony, Graham outlined three benefits a regulatory budget could bring.
He testified that a regulatory budget would force Congress to accept political accountability for regulatory costs, spark competition between new regulatory proposals and create an incentive for agencies to streamline or eliminate wasteful regulations, according to the release.
“Congress imposes strict annual limits on the magnitude of an agency’s appropriations, but there are no limits imposed on the unfunded mandates that federal agencies may impose on the private sector and state and local governments,” Graham testified, according to the release.
He also addressed misconceptions of regulatory budgeting including that it seemingly only considers the burdens of rules and not of benefits.
“The fact that the regulatory budget is defined as a cap on regulatory costs does not mean that regulatory benefits play no role in the process,” Graham testified.
According to the release, Graham said agency leaders would advance whatever case they wished benefits for and would be awarded higher benefits if their case was found to be persuasive.
Jerry Ellig, a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, and Robert Berchik, chair of environmental law at Loyola University New Orleans were other witnesses at the hearing.
Carley Lanich
