House Progressives Debut Regulatory Reform Bill
The Stop Corporate Capture Act is a Roadmap to Strengthen the Regulatory Process
Bold and aggressive policy changes to address climate change, social inequity, worker’s rights, and healthcare must pass through the regulatory process to become a reality. Regrettably, that process is rife with delay, undue corporate and political influence, limited transparency, weak public accountability, and lack of consideration of racial justice and equity impacts. The Stop Corporate Capture Act will modernize the regulatory process to roll back corporate influence and clear the path for agencies to issue strong public interest rules that deliver results for workers, consumers, public health, and the environment
The Stop Corporate Capture Act: reduces corporate influence on the rulemaking process, increases transparency of federal agency actions, clears procedural bottlenecks that delay regulatory protections, empowers the public to hold agencies accountable for enforcing the rules and builds a foundation for consideration of social equity in the rulemaking process.
Less Corporate Influence
- Bans sham studies and industry-backed pseudo-science from undermining public interest regulations.
- Eliminates the industry-friendly “negotiated” rulemaking process that leads to weaker rules.
- Fines corporations that lie about whether a public interest rule would cost their shareholders.
Rulemaking Transparency
- Requires full disclosure of corporate funding in studies and research submitted to agencies during the creation of new public interest rules that result in conflicts of interest.
- Brings transparency to the “black box” process of White House regulatory review that has delayed or blocked regulatory protections in the past.
- Requires an official explanation if agencies decide to withdraw public interest rules.
Process Improvements
- Accelerates the rulemaking review process.
- Ensures agencies are following the will of Congress in implementing laws that protect the public, not the whims of right-wing judges that are ideologically opposed to the “Administrative state.”
- Sets a deadline for agency action on Congressionally mandated public protections.
- Weakens the anti-regulatory effect of the Congressional Review Act (CRA).
- Provides a path for agencies to revive public interest rules struck down using the CRA.
- Emphasizes that agencies should base their regulations on science, evidence, and data, not flawed and corporate friendly economic analyses.
Accountability
- Creates the Office of the Public Advocate to balance out corporate dominance in the regulatory process by being a voice for the public and advancing social equity in the regulatory process.
- Empowers citizens to sue corporations that violate the rules and agencies for failure to enforce the law.
- Increases public notification for new rules.
- Requires the government to respond to citizen petitions for new or stronger regulatory protections.
Social Equity
- Creates a framework for the consideration of social equity in the regulatory process.
- Makes reforms to empower the voices of historically marginalized or underserved communities in the regulatory process.