Often, I’ll hear from business owners – of both large and small businesses – that they are drowning in the constant addition of new federal rules and regulations.

Often, I’ll hear from business owners – of both large and small businesses – that they are drowning in the constant addition of new federal rules and regulations...averaging at 10 new regulations a day! These costs are affecting the very livelihood of Americans, hurting job growth nationally, and raising compliance costs without congressional approval. Today, the House attempted to improve accountability in the regulatory process by passing the Regulations for the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act, legislation introduced by Rep. Todd Young, by a vote of 243 to 165. I voted for the bill, and wanted to let you know why.

At the heart of this issue is accountability. This bill would require all new, “major” regulations – meaning those rules that have an annual, estimated impact of $100 million or more – to be voted on by Congress and signed into law by the President before they go into effect. Seems logical, right? Unfortunately, this is not the case currently. Instead, executive agencies have been tasked with writing regulations to carry out the law, which has sometimes resulted in ineffective and costly rules without congressional oversight. Over the past 20 years, federal agencies have adopted almost 72,000 new rules, and of those rules, 1,262 are considered “major.” Just last year, there were 3,541 new federal rules, yet Congress and the President only made 224 new laws. It seems that rules have become a modern-day way of, in many cases, circumventing the law.

The REINS Act would ensure that all new, major rules will serve their intended purpose and would reinforce the principle of checks and balances upon which our government was founded. Congress would no longer be able to delegate authority to executive agencies and would instead be responsible for the regulatory process and accountable for each new rule and regulation. At the end of the day, this bill might not make it through the Senate, but I think it’s important to limit the power of the executive branch.

The Constitution clearly gives Congress the power to make laws, not the President or executive agencies. As I see it, if the President wants to change the law, he can work with Congress to get it done, but he can’t do it on his own.