The Regulatory Accountability Act (RAA), announced by Sens. Rob Portman (R-OH), Mark Pryor (D-AR), and Susan Collins (R-ME) and Reps. Lamar Smith (R-TX) and Collin Peterson (D-MN) on Sept. 22, is a radical overhaul of the federal rulemaking process that would result in a system that allows powerful special interests to dominate. The bill would cast aside public health, worker safety, and environmental quality goals that are the basis of so many public protections and make estimated costs to businesses and the economy the most important consideration in rulemaking.

Regulations designed to protect consumers, workers, and the environment do not have a negative impact on the job market and, in some cases, actually spur job creation, according to new research from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). The EPI paper, Regulation, Employment, and the Economy: Fears of job loss are overblown, shows that recent criticism surrounding regulations' impact on jobs is misguided and not reflective of economic data.

In response to a congressional request, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently prepared a white paper on the effects of the Clean Air Act (CAA) on jobs and the economy. The paper summarizes the empirical evidence on the economic costs and benefits of the act since 1970. The evidence illustrates the many benefits of the CAA and the small impact of pollution controls on employment.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 6, 2011—Today, OMB Watch released the third and final report in a series on public protections and the Obama administration. The new report, The Obama Approach to Public Protection: The Regulatory Process, finds that although the Obama administration's overall regulatory philosophy is strikingly different from that of the previous administration, promised changes to the federal regulatory process have stalled out.