Business, Government Legal News from throughout WVHouse votes on act that could restrain regulatory agencies

House votes on act that could restrain regulatory agencies

The U.S. House of Representatives on Dec. 7 passed the REINS Act, which would require congressional approval for any federal regulation with an economic impact of greater than $100 million.

The Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny, or REINS, Act passed the House 241-184. Both West Virginia Republican Reps. Shelley Moore Capito and David McKinley voted in favor of the legislation. Democrat Nick Rahall voted against it.

Capito, who has supported the bill since its inception, said she is frustrated with the Environmental Protection Agency's regulations and how those rules affect the coal industry in West Virginia.

"Too often (the Obama) administration has tried to regulate where they can't legislate and the resulting regulatory regime has spun out of control," Capito said. "In West Virginia, the EPA has used rules and regulations to advance an anti-coal, anti-manufacturing and anti-natural gas agenda which has already cost our state thousands of jobs."

The REINS Act would apply to all new major regulations and allow Congress and President Barack Obama 70 legislative days to approve those rules, according to information from McKinley's office. If both branches do not act within the 70-day time frame, the rule is considered not approved.

"This make takes away the authority for unelected bureaucrats to impose extreme and unwarranted regulations on the American public," McKinley said. "This restores the system of checks and balances originally intended by the Constitution, and gives the ultimate authority of the rulemaking process back to Congress."

McKinley authored an amendment to the REINS Act, but subsequently withdrew the amendment from the floor, citing the need for further study on its potential impact. He plans to work on future related legislation.

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., voiced his support for the Senate version of the bill in June after American Electric Power announced it would close three plants in West Virginia and lay off 242 workers. In a statement released at that time, Manchin said elected officials "should be the people who are responsible for making major decisions that affect our economy, not bureaucrats who are unaccountable to any constituents and have never created jobs."

"The REINS Act is a common sense measure that will help protect and create jobs by reining in needless or burdensome regulations and will put responsibility back where it belongs—in the hands of the people who are elected to govern and lead this great nation," Manchin said.