Washington, D.C. – On May 17, 2023, Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-IN) reintroduced bicameral legislation, the Sunshine for Regulatory Decrees and Settlements Act, with Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) to end the practice of “sue-and-settle,” a method employed by the executive branch that subverts the Administrative Procedure Act and comes with a serious cost to taxpayers.
“Our Founding Fathers understood the importance of checks and balances and the dangers of abuse of power. Unfortunately, the executive branch has been taking advantage of the ineffective legislative branch,” Spartz said. “The Sunshine for Regulatory Decrees and Settlements Act brings transparency to sue-and-settle techniques employed by activist federal agencies.”
“Sue-and-settle tactics are used solely to hide an agency’s regulatory ambitions from the American people until it is too late. This practice hurts families, businesses, and even entire states through burdensome red tape, and it makes a mockery of the public accountability and transparency protections established by the Administrative Procedure Act. This bill restores the American people’s seat at the table when agencies debate imposing new federal regulations,” Grassley said.
The practice of “sue-and-settle” involves closed-door negotiations between federal agencies and allied special interest groups resulting in mutually agreed upon settlements which force the agency into a time-limited rulemaking process. The Sunshine for Regulatory Decrees and Settlements Act resolves this problem by requiring public notices, courts to consider public input and regulatory statutes, the Attorney General to certify on proper agency’s authority and funding, and reporting to Congress to improve transparency and legislative oversight. It also establishes timeframes for public input.
This legislation is cosponsored by Reps. Michael Cloud (R-TX), Rick Crawford (R-AR), John Moolenaar (R-MI), Chris Stewart (R-UT), and Tom Tiffany (R-WI) in the House, and Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), John Cornyn (R-TX), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Thom Tillis (R-NC) in the Senate.
Original source can be found here.
