The REINS Act

OUR POSITION: CSS opposes the bill and urges members of Congress to vote against it.

The Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act would require require all new economically significant regulations – in other words, the big-ticket public protections that provide the most health, safety, environmental and economic benefits – to be approved by both chambers of Congress before taking effect.

If both chambers were unable to approve a major rule within a 70-day window, the rule would not take effect and would be tabled until the next congressional session. In effect, the reigning dysfunction in Congress would endanger any important new regulation, no matter how uncontroversial it might be.

REINS is nothing more than a back-door way to gut enforcement of existing legislation and future safeguards that big-money interests do not want. It would force Congress to refight its previous debates, wasting time and money, and paralyzing vital agency work.



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CSS Resources

CSS Opposes the REINS Act of 2017 (S. 21)

Letter to Members: May 16, 2017

Damaging Regulatory Legislation in HSGAC Mark-Up

Fact Sheet: May 16: 2017

House Republicans Poised to Gut Our System of Public Protections

Press Release: January 4, 2017

CSS Opposes the REINS Act of 2017

Letter to Members: January 3, 2017

REINS Would Let Members of Congress Block Public Protections – By Doing Nothing

Press Release: July 28, 2015

CSS Opposes H.R. 427, the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act of 2015

Letter to Members: July 28, 2015

Groups Oppose H.R. 427, the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act of 2015

Letter to Members: July 28, 2015

Legal Experts Call on Congress to Oppose the REINS Act, H.R. 427

Letter to Members: April 14, 2015

CSS Opposes the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act of 2015, H.R. 427: House Judiciary Markup

Letter to Members: April 13, 2015

Corporate Congress Trying to Kill Public Safeguards

Editorial Board Alert: March 4, 2015

REINS Act Would Decimate Public Protections, But It’s a Messaging Stunt That Won’t Become Law

Press Release: August 2, 2013

CSS Opposes the REINS Act of 2013

Letter to Congress: July 26, 2013

Radical REINS Act — Distraction from Other Anti-Regulatory Bills

Press Release: March 8, 2013

House Completes Its Terrible Trifecta by Passing the REINS Act

Press Release: December 7, 2011

House Judiciary Committee’s Approval of REINS Act is Deplorable; Bill Would Destroy a Century of Progress on Public Protections

Press Release: October 25, 2011

REINS Act: A Radical Threat to Health, Safety and Other Public Protections

Press Release: October 13, 2011

REINS Act Would Undermine Crucial Public Protections

Press Release: March 8, 2011

Resources from Members and Allies

CFA Urges Senate Committee Leaders to Oppose REINS Act

Consumer Federation of America: May 16, 2017

Oppose S. 951, S.34, S.21 – Radical Attacks on New Public Health and Environmental Safeguards in the Guise of “Regulatory Reform”

League of Conservation Voters: May 16, 2017

Meanwhile, in Reality … Congress Works on Legislation to Inhibit Federal Safety Standards

Former U.S. Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.): March 15, 2017

The REINS Act: A Threat to Good Government and Clean Water

Clean Water Action: March 13, 2017

Why the REINS Act Is Unconstitutional

Center for Progressive Reform: February 14, 2017

CR-CU Letter to the U.S. House Opposing H.R. 26, the REINS Act

Consumer Reports and Consumers Union: January 4, 2017

Oppose H.R 21 & 26 – Radical Attacks on Public Protections

League of Conservation Voters: January 4, 2017

Center for American Progress Opposes the REINS Act

Center for American Progress: January 4, 2017

Public Citizen Opposes the REINS Act

Public Citizen: January 4, 2017

Americans for Financial Reform Opposes the REINS Act

Americans for Financial Reform: January 4, 2017

Fact Sheet on the REINS Act

Public Citizen: January 3, 2017

APHA Opposes REINS Act and Midnight Rules Relief Act

American Public Health Association: January 3, 2017

Public Citizen Opposes H.R. 427, the REINS Act

Public Citizen: July 28, 2015

Letter to the House urging a NO vote on the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act of 2015

Consumers Union: July 28, 2015

AFL-CIO Opposes H.R. 427, the REINS Act

AFL-CIO: July 28, 2015

ASBC Opposes H.R. 427, the REINS Act

American Sustainable Business Council: July 28, 2015

CFA Opposes H.R. 427, the REINS Act

Consumer Federation of America: July 28, 2015

UCS Opposes H.R. 427, the REINS Act

Union of Concerned Scientists: July 28, 2015

Sierra Club Opposes H.R. 427, the REINS Act

Sierra Club: July 28, 2015

Statement of Administration Policy on H.R. 427

White House Veto Threat: July 27, 2015

NRDC Opposes H.R. 427, the REINS Act

Natural Resources Defense Council: July 27: 2015

Your Up-to-Date 10-Day Forecast for Capitol Hill: A Blizzard of Anti-Regulatory Bills

Center for Progressive Reform: January 28, 2015

Three Reasons the REINS Act Must be Stopped (Again)

Center for Effective Government: January 23, 2015

14 Ways the 114th Congress Plans to Attack the Environment and Undermine Public Health

Natural Resources Defense Council: January 17, 2015

The REINS Act: Unbridled Impediment to Regulation

Ronald M. Levin, Washington University in Saint Louis School of Law: January 9, 2015

Decoding the Bill: Lobbying Records Show That Electric Utility Industry Dominates Push for Deregulatory ‘REINS’ Legislation

Public Citizen: August 2011

Press Coverage

Regulatory ‘Reform’ That Is Anything But

The New York Times: June 15, 2017

What Is the REINS Act? Health & Safety Regulations Could Be Affected

Bustle: January 27, 2017

Chemical Rules Could Be Foiled by Regulatory Oversight Bill

Bloomberg BNA: January 24, 2017

The End of Government Oversight?

The Atlantic: January 13, 2017

Suspending the Rules: How Congress Plans to Undermine Public Safety

The New Yorker: January 9, 2017

Pass a Regulation, Repeal Another: House Approves Provision Tied to Koch Industries

DeSmog Blog: January 6, 2017

The REINS Act: Handing the Reins of Public Health and Safety Over to Big Corporations

Medium: January 4, 2017

Sorry, Mr. Speaker, This Isn’t a ‘Better Way’

The Hill: June 15, 2016

Industry-Funded Lawmakers Target Public Health and Environmental Protections

The Huffington Post: June 11, 2016

A Lesson From Scalia: Regulatory Reform Is Obstruction

The Hill: February 25, 2016

The Little-Noticed Conservative Plan to Permanently Lock Democrats Out of Policymaking

ThinkProgress: November 16, 2015

House Votes to End All Major New Rules, Again

The Huffington Post: June 28, 2015

Fossil Fuel-Funded Lawmakers Want to Weaken Human and Environmental Health Protections

EcoWatch: June 16, 2015

Industry-Funded Lawmakers Target Public Health and Environmental Protections

The Huffington Post: June 11, 2015

Rand Paul and the Big-Polluter Agenda

The Huffington Post: April 30, 2015

New Life for ‘Zombie’ Regs Bills in Congress

The Hill: February 17, 2015

Senate GOP Building Momentum for Regulatory Reform

The Hill: January 23, 2015

Republicans Introduce Bill to Rein in Regulators

The Hill: January 22, 2015

Republican Statehouse Gains Load the Dice for Anti-EPA Bills

E&E Publishing: January 12, 2015

When It REINS, It Pours: The GOP’s Terrible Plan to Wield Congressional Power Over Agencies

The New Republic: February 10, 2011