Senator Schmitt Introduces First Bill of Term that Aims to Significantly Reduce Federal Regulations

Senator Schmitt’s ERASER Act is the beginning of his push for deep structural reform and the dismantling of the administrative state

WASHINGTON – Today, Senator Eric Schmitt introduced the Expediting Reform and Stopping Excess Regulations Act, or ERASER Act, to rein in theadministrative state and protect Missourians and Americans from overbearing federal regulations. This is Senator Schmitt’s first bill since being sworn in.

“The administrative state is comprised of thousands of unelected bureaucrats at alphabet agencies that have immense power over the lives of Missourians and Americans. To reduce the burden on Missourians and Americans and to claw that power away from unelected bureaucrats, I introduced the ERASER Act to ensure that burdensome and outdated regulations are repealed before any new regulations are put forward,” said Senator Eric Schmitt. “This is an important step in reducing the regulatory burden on Missourians and Americans and affecting much needed structural reform. I will continue to fight to get government off of the backs of Missourians and Americans, and ensure that power is returned to where it belongs: the people.” 

Background:

• The ERASER Act provides the framework to ensure government bureaucrats think more critically about new rules and regulations.
  • The Bill would require administrative agencies that issue a new regulation to repeal three existing regulations before the new regulation takes effect.
• This bill builds upon the Trump administration executive order issued in 2017 (E.O. 13771) that required agencies to remove two regulations when issuing a new one.
  • By 2019, these efforts saved small businesses $733 million in regulation costs.
  • One of President Biden’s first actions was to repeal this policy.

Specifically, the ERASER Act:

• Prohibits agencies from issuing a major rule unless the agency has repealed three (3) or more rules AND the cost of the new major rule is less than or equal to the cost of the rules repealed, as certified by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.
  • Major rules include any rules that (a) cost $100 million or more, (b) cause a major increase in costs or prices for consumers or individual industries, or (c) have a significant adverse effect on competition, employment, investment, or innovation of US businesses. 
• Provides very limited exceptions for internal governance of an agency and for rules that would make the requirements less burdensome.
• Requires GAO to conduct a study on all rules currently in effect as of the date of the bill’s enactment.

The ERASER Act is cosponsored by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN), Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL), and Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL).

The ERASER Act is endorsed by Heritage Action, Competitive Enterprise Institute, and the Foundation for Government Accountability.  

Read the full bill text below

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