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NAFCU and 379 other associations joined in calling for House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., to make the "Regulatory Accountability Act" – a bill that would mandate cost control in regulation – a priority in the 115th Congress.

The "Regulatory Accountability Act of 2015" passed the House on January 13, 2015, but was never considered by the Senate. The law would require that regulations be narrowly tailored, supported by strong and credible data and evidence, and impose the lowest possible burden while still implementing congressional intent.

"The Regulatory Accountability Act builds on established principles of fair regulatory process and review that have been embodied in bipartisan executive orders dating to at least the Clinton administration," NAFCU and other signers wrote in a letter to Ryan Monday. "The Act would make the regulatory process more transparent, agencies more accountable for their decisions, and regulations better-tailored to achieve their purpose without unnecessary burdens on stakeholders.

"The Regulatory Accountability Act would allow Congress and the public to reassert control over a federal regulatory bureaucracy that is opaque, unaccountable, and often unfair," the signers continued.

Under the bill, a least-cost implementation of rules would be required unless an agency could demonstrate that public health, safety or welfare required a more costly approach. Other key provisions would:

• give interested parties a chance to hold agencies accountable for their own compliance with the Information Quality Act;
• provide for on-the-record administrative hearings for the most costly rules to ensure agency data is well tested and reviewed;
• provide for a more rigorous test in legal challenges for rules that would have the most impact.