skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Trump's Plan to Reduce Regulations Challenged in Federal Court

play audio
Play

Friday, February 10, 2017   

CHEYENNE, Wyo. - Public-interest law, environmental and labor groups are suing to stop the Trump administration's executive order to cut government regulations.

The order signed Jan. 30 requires federal agencies to eliminate two existing regulations for every new one enacted, and that new regulations must have a net cost of zero in the current fiscal year -- without considering the value of benefits to public health and safety. According to Robert Weissman, president of the watchdog group Public Citizen, that would require agencies to violate existing law governing the regulatory process as well as the Administrative Procedure Act.

"The Administrative Procedure Act says they are not permitted to engage in decisions that are arbitrary and capricious," he said. "This executive order requires them to take into account irrational factors, things that exactly fit that definition."

Supporters of Trump's executive order say it will clear away unnecessary regulations that hamper the growth of small businesses and cripple the economy.

David Goldston, the Natural Resources Defense Council's director of public affairs, said the two-for-one requirement can't help but stymie the issuing of new regulations. He pointed to last year's update of the Toxic Substances Control Act, the first major revision in 40 years.

"Why would finally catching up with chemicals that have been on the market for decades mean that we don't need a clean-air regulation or a clean-water regulation," he said, "or, for that matter, a regulation for another chemical?"

Goldston said the executive order puts industry's concerns about the cost of complying with regulations ahead of the public's concerns about the problem that the regulation is trying to solve.

Weissman said reports by the White House Office of Management and Budget consistently have found that the benefits of regulations are significant.

"The most significant rules adopted have benefits that outweigh costs as much as 14 to one," he said. "But if you look at the big rules, the benefits maybe are 10 times or more greater than the costs."

The lawsuit challenging the executive order was filed Wednesday morning in the federal district court in Washington, D.C.

More information is online at citizen.org.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021