House Republicans Pass Bill Creating Office Of The Repealer Of Regulations

On May 24, Republicans in the House voted to pass  House Bill 939 (Klunk-R-York) creating a new bureaucracy-- the Independent Office of the Repealer-- to review existing regulations from all state agencies and make recommendations to the General Assembly and Governor for the repeal or revision.  

The only criteria offered in the bill for this review are--

-- Unreasonable, unduly burdensome, detrimental to economic well-being, duplicative, onerous, defective or in conflict with another statute or regulation; and

--  “Defying a common sense approach to government.”

The evaluation is not required to calculate the economic, environmental or public health benefits derived from a regulation, whether the regulation is required by state or federal law or other criteria.

The bill creates a state “office” to give a venier of credibility to efforts to repeal environmental, public health and safety regulations affecting businesses, as in--  “The Office Of The Repealer recommended” this or that regulation should be repealed.

Sounds official, right?

Part Of A Package Of Bad Ideas

This bill is part of a package of bill to kill final regulations by doing nothing, provide a shield to law violators and mandating private review of DEP permit applications already passed by House Republicans.  Read more here.

A similar package of bad bills is being moved by Senate Republicans. Read more here.

Related Article:

-- Republicans On Senate Committee Report Out Bills To Kill Regulations By Doing Nothing, Require Private Review Of Permits And More 

[Posted: May 24, 2021]  PA Environment Digest