Washington D.C. –Senator Katie Britt (R-Ala.) recently joined U.S. Senator Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) when he introduced legislation called the Expediting Reform and Stopping Excess Regulations Act also known as the ERASER Act, to rein on the power of the administrative state and safeguard Alabamians and Americans from the encroachment of federal regulations.


“Time and often, every time I sit down with the Alabamians, one of their main worries is the number of burdensome regulations they are unable to comply with. Biden Administration continues to churn out without the consent of Congress and all in the name of increasing government influence and authority. These unneeded restrictions are crippling hard-working Americans as well as making life more difficult rather than easier even as the country is enduring high inflation and economic uncertainty.” stated Senator Britt. “It’s evident that the Alabamians and Americans know the best way to manage our homes, businesses property, businesses, and other assets and cutting down on regulatory red tape will make sure that the bureaucratic overreach stays in check, allowing families to succeed and fulfill the American Dream .”

“The administrative state consists of a plethora of bureaucrats unelected in alphabetic organizations that hold enormous influence on the life of Missourians and Americans. To lessen the burden for Missourians as well as Americans and to take the power away from the bureaucrats who are not elected, I proposed the ERASER Act to ensure that excessive and outdated regulations are canceled before new regulations are proposed,” stated Senator Eric Schmitt. “This is a significant move in decreasing the burden of regulatory burden on Missourians as well as Americans and also affecting the much-needed structural reform. I will fight to remove government from the shoulders of Missourians and Americans and make sure that power goes back citizens.”

Background:

  • The ERASER Act provides the framework to help government officials are more critical about the new rules and regulations.
    • The bill will require administrative agencies releasing an amendment to a regulation to repeal three of their existing regulations prior to when the new regulation becomes effective.
  • This bill builds on the Trump executive order of the administration issued during 2017 (E.O. 13771) which mandated agencies to eliminate two regulations prior to releasing the new regulations.

    • In 2019, these efforts helped small businesses save $733 million in costs for regulation.
    • One of Biden’s initial actions was to revoke the policy.

In particular specifically, it is the ERASER Act:

  • Agency is prohibited from releasing major rules in the event that the agency has eliminated the rules of three (3) at least three rules and the price for the major rule being issued is lower than, or at least equal to value of the rules being repealed as verified by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.
  • Major rules are those which (a) are more than $100 million in cost, (b) cause a significant price or cost increase for individual industries or consumers or (c) result in a major adverse impact on employment, competition and investment or the innovation of US firms.
  • Allows only a few exceptions for internal governance within an agency, and rules that simplify the process.
  • It requires GAO to conduct a study of the current rules in force from the date of the bill’s passage.

The senators who are joining Sens. Britt as well as Schmitt as cosponsors of the ERASER Act are Senators Josh Hawley (R-Mo. ), Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind. ) as well as Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.).

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

The entire text of the law is available at this link.