Comments Show Broad Support for Biden’s Regulatory Reforms
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Supporters of the Biden administration’s regulatory reforms outnumber opponents three-to-one in comments submitted to the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, Public Citizen found in an analysis released today.
In total, 211 unique comments were submitted, 191 of which took a clear position supporting or opposing the administration’s regulatory reforms, and Public Citizen calculated the total number of signers on each one. Out of the 632 organizations and individuals who authored or signed comments, 471 backed supportive comments while 161 backed comments in opposition – giving supporters a three-to-one advantage.
“The Biden administration’s efforts to reverse corporate capture and modernize the regulatory process are long overdue and will improve the lives of regular Americans,” said Bitsy Skerry, regulatory policy associate for Public Citizen and co-author of the report. “The public overwhelmingly supports these ambitious reforms to ensure regulations provide the greatest benefits.”
The reforms are designed to fix three major problems. First, they encourage more public participation in the regulatory process, particularly from regular Americans who benefit from new regulatory protections. This will help counterbalance the corporate special interests pushing for weaker, more corporate-friendly rules that have traditionally dominated the process.
Second, the reforms streamline the regulatory review process at the U.S. Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs to make it more efficient and inclusive of new voices from the public, rather than corporate lobbyists that have typically met with the agency.
And third, the reforms update the way agencies calculate the costs and benefits of new regulations to correct for deep flaws that routinely lead government agencies to underestimate the benefits of regulations that protect the public.