Archive for the ‘Rand Paul’ Category

Rand Paul: If You Believe in Separation of Powers, REINS Act Is Bill to Do It – IVN News

The Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee passed the Regulations from Executives In Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act Wednesday, a bill sponsored by U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.). This is just one bill Paul has sponsored to protect constitutional checks and balances between the Legislative Branch and the Executive Branch.

The REINS Act basically says that any regulation over $100 million will need to come back to have Congress approval. I think this was the intent of our Founding Fathers that legislation be written that impacts our society, significant legislation be passed by Congress and not just by the Executive Branch, and not just by unelected folks in the Executive Branch, said Paul in a committee meeting.

He later added, I think if you believe in the separation of powers and that legislation or that things that affect our economy should originate in Congress. This is a great way to have oversight over regulations.

Paul is also co-sponsoring the Justice Safety Valve Act along with Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.). The re-introduction of the bill came after Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the DOJ would take a tougher stance on the War on Drugs.

Targeting the AG: Sessions War on Drugs Draws Bipartisan Fire

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Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore / Flickr

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Rand Paul: If You Believe in Separation of Powers, REINS Act Is Bill to Do It - IVN News

Rand Paul’s REINS Act Heads to Senate Floor – legal Insurrection (blog)

An attempt to stop over regulation.

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee has passed Sen. Rand Pauls (R-KY) Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act, which means it will finally proceed to the Senate floor.

This is a major victory for us who despise too much regulation. From Reason:

Sponsored by Sen. Ran Paul (R-Kentucky), the REINS Act would require every new regulation that costs more than $100 million to be approved by Congress. As it is now, executive branch agencies can pass those rules unilaterally, and even though those major rules account for only 3 percent of annual regulations, they are the ones that cause the most headaches for individuals and businesses.

Passage of the REINS Act would also require Congress to review all existing regulations that surpass the $100 million threshold. Since theres no clear accounting of how many such rules exist, assessing the landscape would be a necessary step before reforms could be enacted.

Pauls office released this statement to celebrate the passage of the bill:

For too long, an ever-growing federal bureaucracy has piled regulations and red tape on the backs of the American people without any approval by Americans elected representatives, said Dr. Paul. The REINS Act reasserts Congress legislative authority and would continue the historic progress we have made this year to curb the damaging effects of overreaching regulations.

Dr. Pauls REINS Act would rein in unelected federal bureaucrats by requiring that Congress affirmatively approve every new major rule proposed by the Executive Branch before it can be enforced on the American people.

A major rule is defined as any federal rule or regulation that may result in 1.) an annual economic impact of $100 million or more, 2.) a major increase in costs or prices for American consumers, or 3.) significant adverse effects on the economy.

Paul introduced the bill back in January and received 26 cosponsors. Sen. Todd Young (R-IN) signed on since he witnessed how regulatory overreach can stifle our local economies and cost American jobs since his father owns a small business. Young introduced a similar bill as a representative in the House back in 2015.

Young has also used the bill as a way to persuade Democrats that the REINS Act could also stop President Donald Trump from gaining too much power. From The Washington Examiner:

We need to reassert our prerogative as the legislative branch, the freshly minted senator told the Washington Examiner, whether we happen to have a Republican or a Democrat president in the White House at any given moment in time.

That might not be that tough of a sell when Democrats consider the possibility of President-elect Trump using an administrative army to shut out Congress. For the minority party, the idea of the president-elect governing by pen and phone cant be comforting.

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Rand Paul's REINS Act Heads to Senate Floor - legal Insurrection (blog)

Rand Paul: House bill didn’t repeal Obamacare; Senate CAN – Conservative Review


Conservative Review
Rand Paul: House bill didn't repeal Obamacare; Senate CAN
Conservative Review
J., that would allow states to apply for waivers from Obamacare regulations still well short of the promised full repeal. Sen. Rand Paul hopes that the Senate version of healthcare reform will look more like a full repeal of Obamacare reforming ...
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Senate GOP warms to larger insurance subsidies for older and low-income peopleThe Hill
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all 259 news articles »

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Rand Paul: House bill didn't repeal Obamacare; Senate CAN - Conservative Review

Rand Paul: We Face An Uphill Battle Getting Administration On Board With Criminal Justice Reform – The Daily Caller

Kentucky GOP Sen. Rand Paul acknowledged gettingthe Trump administration on board with criminal justice reforms will be an uphill battle on a call with reporters Wednesday.

Paul recently introduced bipartisan legislation dubbed the Justice Safety Valve Act along with Democratic Sens. Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Jeff Merkley of Oregon, which would allow federal judges to sidestepmandatory minimums in certain cases.

The legislation directly conflicts with a memo Attorney General Jeff Sessionsreleased Fridaycalling for judges to imposes the strictest penaltieson nonviolent drug offenders.

Paul and Leahy have long fought for reforms to mandatoryminimum sentencing, working unsuccessfully to secure permanent changes during the Obama administration.

We havent lost interest in it, we just will have a little bit of an uphill battle getting this administration but I dont think its impossible, Paul told reporters. Ive heard there are members that are interested in it in the administration, but the administration is not unified in being for criminal justice reform. But we havent given up on him, and we have to get across that this is not a Republican or a Democratic idea.

Leahy echoed Pauls sentiment, adding he believes the current system is creating unnecessary federal expenses and is taking a one-size-fits-all approach.

We have to we have to get across that this is not a Republican or a Democratic idea, this is a commonsense idea, hesaid on the call. And what Im trying to do is get a number of people who served in law enforcement as I have to join on this.

The lawmakers said they think they have a better shot at accomplishing reforms though the legislative branch than pushing for changes in the executive branch.

We are having conversations with people who we think are sympathetic in the administration. I dont think particularly the attorney general is that sympathetic and really it surprised me a little bit in how aggressively hes going in the opposite direction, Paul continued. So we will do what we can with the administration, but I think if we could get something that made it out of the Senate in a bipartisan way I think there would be a reasonable chance we could get the president on board.

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Rand Paul: We Face An Uphill Battle Getting Administration On Board With Criminal Justice Reform - The Daily Caller

Rand Paul’s REINS Act Finally Makes It to Senate Floor – Reason (blog)

Jerry Mennenga/ZUMA Press/NewscomA Senate committee vote on Wednesday is a new high water mark for a long-sought-after regulatory reform proposal. Further progress, though, might be unlikely.

The U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee approved the REINS Act (the acronym stands for "Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny"), sending the bill to the Senate floor for the first time. While the REINS Act has cleared the House several times in recent yearsmost recently in Januarythis is the first time the proposal has been approved by a vote of any kind in the Senate.

Sponsored by Sen. Ran Paul (R-Kentucky), the REINS Act would require every new regulation that costs more than $100 million to be approved by Congress. As it is now, executive branch agencies can pass those rules unilaterally, and even though those major rules account for only 3 percent of annual regulations, they are the ones that cause the most headaches for individuals and businesses.

Passage of the REINS Act would also require Congress to review all existing regulations that surpass the $100 million threshold. Since there's no clear accounting of how many such rules exist, assessing the landscape would be a necessary step before reforms could be enacted.

"For too long, an ever-growing federal bureaucracy has piled regulations and red tape on the backs of the American people without any approval by Americans' elected representatives," Paul said in a statement Wednesday. "The REINS Act reasserts Congress' legislative authority and would continue the historic progress we have made this year to curb the damaging effects of overreaching regulations."

While the committee vote is a win for the legislation, another bill also approved by the same committee on Wednesday is a more likely vehicle for regulatory reforms this year. Clyde Wayne Crews, the vice president for policy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a free market think tank that favors regulatory reform, tells Reason that he doesn't expect a floor vote on Paul's bill this yearthough he admits it's difficult to predict anything in Washington.

Still, regulatory reformers have hope in the form of the Regulatory Accountability Act, which would codify several executive branch mandates requiring cost/benefit analyses on new rules. It would also require executive agencies to do more after-the-fact reviews of the consequences of their regulations and would apply the same cost/benefit measures to things that aren't technically regulations but do much of the same thing, like when the FAA issues "guidance" on drone rules, for example.

The Regulatory Accountability Act does not go as far as the REINS Act, but "it helps pave the way for more substantial reforms in the future," says Crews.

What of President Donald Trump's promise to reshape the federal regulatory stateto bring about the "deconstruction of the regulatory state," as White House adviser Steve Bannon promised in March?

"It's not that," says Crews. "The administrative state will be just fine. It won't solve every problem, but it might allow our descendants to do so."

With Congress likely to spend the next several months on hearings concerned with the firing of James Comey and other hearings seeking to find his replacement as director of the FBI, the entire legislative agenda for 2017 has been disrupted. Health care and tax reform will likely be pushed off until the fall, and the federal budget still has to be passed too.

In that environment, getting the REINS Act to the floor of the Senate might be a bigger accomplishment than it initially seems, even if it moves no farther.

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