House looks to block Obama with regulatory freeze bill next week

House Republicans are setting up a vote next week on a bill that would proscribe major federal regulations until unemployment reaches 6 percent, block regulations from a lame-duck president and require cost-benefit analyses of certain rules before they take effect.

The Red Tape Reduction and Small Business Job Creation Act, H.R. 4078, is a combination of seven bills, all of which fit the theme of trying to reduce what Republicans say are hurdles to economic growth erected by excessive federal regulations. While Democrats have said the GOP has failed to move significant jobs legislation, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) last week argued that getting the government out of the way counts as a major jobs bill.

"We will be focusing on cutting red tape, reducing the regulatory burden on our job creators," Cantor said. "As we know, the regulatory atmosphere in this country is making it more difficult and more expensive for small businesses and large to create jobs."

The bill includes the original H.R. 4078, the Regulatory Freeze for Jobs Act, which would prevent major new rules from being issued until the national unemployment rate falls to 6 percent. But it also includes the Midnight Rule Relief Act, which would prevent a lame-duck president from imposing new rules between the election and Jan. 20, a bill that Republicans are hoping will be needed at the end of this year.

Elsewhere, the bill would require the Congressional Budget Office to assess the cost of unfunded mandates on state and local governments, and require new steps to ensure the efficiency of the environmental rulemaking process.

Finally, the legislation would require the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to run cost-benefit analyses of proposed rules before they are issued.

The House Rules Committee has set a Friday deadline for proposing amendments to the bill, implying that the bill will be on the House floor by next week.

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