In its most recent report, OMB found that during the last administration, from January 21, 2009, to September 20, 2015, the estimated annual net benefit (benefits minus costs) of major federal regulations was between $103 and $393 billion. In addition, the need for the safety equipment creates jobs for the people producing the equipment.Įach year the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) reports to Congress on the costs and benefits of federal regulations, with a focus on regulations for which agencies are able to estimate and monetize both costs and benefits. Safety regulations may require substantial upfront investments in safety equipment, but those investments pay off over the long term through a reduction in illnesses like lung cancer and through lives saved over decades. For example, regulations establishing workplace safety standards save lives, and environmental protection regulations conserve natural resources and improve public health, which may provide benefits for generations. To assess whether a regulation should be undertaken, agencies consider a comprehensive set of benefits and costs over a broad time horizon. Federal regulations currently provide a net benefit to society of over $100 billion per year However, research shows that federal regulations in fact provide an overall net benefit to the economy and that they have a modestly positive or neutral effect on employment. Rhetoric attacking regulations generally alleges that regulations are overly burdensome for employers and cost jobs. Opponents of regulations routinely emphasize the costs associated with regulations while ignoring their benefits. Regulations not only provide essential protections, but their economic benefits generally outweigh their costs For example, if Congress passes a law directing the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to ensure “safe and healthful working conditions” in America’s workplaces, OSHA responds by promulgating specific rules that employers must follow in order to establish safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. Congress passes laws, and then federal agencies set the rules for how those laws are followed. Regulations are simply the rules of the game. The facts about regulation Regulations put laws into action, protecting America’s workers In this report, we review what the research says about the benefits of regulations, and we shine a spotlight on Trump and Congress’s most egregious deregulatory actions-actions that advantage corporate interests and those at the top of the income distribution at the expense of low- and middle-income workers. But not only do regulations provide essential protections research shows that federal regulations in fact provide an overall net benefit to the economy-contrary to what its opponents would have people believe. 2 Regulations play an essential role in protecting workers-ensuring safe workplaces and fair pay and protecting workers’ rights to organize and join a union so they can bargain collectively with their employers. The Economic Policy Institute’s Perkins Project on Worker Rights and Wages has been tracking Trump and Congress’s decimation of federal labor standards through deregulation since January 2017. While the specific figure Trump cited at the press conference has been called into question, there is no disputing that Trump and congressional Republicans have engaged in an unprecedented attack on regulations over the last year, rolling back rules that were intended to protect workers, consumers, and public health. 1 He is expected to tout this number again at his upcoming State of the Union address to Congress. On December 14, 2017, President Trump held a press conference to take credit for the “most far-reaching regulatory reform in history,” claiming his administration has been responsible for more than 1,500 cancelled or delayed regulatory actions.
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