14 Jan 2010

Paperwork Reduction Act
How to improve implementation of the law

by Richard Belzer

in Paperwork Burdens

On October 28, 2009, the Office of Management and Budget solicited comments on its implementation of the Paperwork Reduction Act. The purpose of the PRA is to minimize burdens on the public resulting from the federal government's information requests.

Neutral Source managing editor Richard Belzer submitted comments on his own behalf. These comments eventually will be uploaded by OMB to Regulations.Gov, the Federal government's web portal for all regulatory matters. (Clicking on the link above will reveal a fundamental weakness of the web portal: Unless the agency chooses to include information identifying the name and organizational affiliation of the submitter, there is no way to find any specific comment without opening them all.)

In response to numerous requests, a copy of these comment is posted to the Library.

25 Feb 2009

Regulatory Review in the Obama Administration, Part 3:
Cass Sunstein and his critics

by Richard Belzer

in People & Institutions, Regulatory Policy

Long time University of Chicago Law (and recent Harvard Law) professor Cass Sunstein is expected to be nominated by President Obama to be the new Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. OIRA is the statutory office within the White House Office of Management and Budget that, among other things, has conducted centralized regulatory oversight on behalf of the president since 1981.

When Susan Dudley was nominated in 2006 to head this office, Neutral Source published an eight-part analysis of her "paper trail," which is summarized here. We undertook this task because her nomination generated controversy from certain activist groups, most notably Public Citizen, and we found significant factual discrepancies between the actual content of this paper trail and her critics claims about it.

We intend to repeat this effort, but Sunstein presents an unusually difficult challenge.

24 Feb 2009

Regulatory Review in the Obama Administration, Part 2:
Alive and well, reports to the contrary notwithstanding

by Richard Belzer

in Regulatory Policy

In a February 17 article, Politico reporter Josh Gerstein claims that "[i]n his first weeks in office, President Barack Obama shut down his predecessor’s system for reviewing regulations" and "managed to take all these actions with nary a mention from the White House press corps." Gerstein further claims that this "escaped notice because they were never announced by the White House Press Office and were never placed on the White House web site."

Gerstein's reporting is erroneous.

3 Feb 2009

Regulatory Review in the Obama Administration, Part 1:
Executive Order 13497

by Richard Belzer

in Regulatory Policy

On January 30, President Obama signed Executive Order 13497, which begins the process of changing the way the Office of Management and Budgwet performs centralized review of draft proposed and draft final regulations. In a memorandum to agency heads, the President also announced a plan to produce "a set of recommendations" within 100 days (~ May 14, 2009).

Texts for both documents are provided below.

12 Nov 2008

Petition for Correction to the Office of Management and Budget Concerning the Draft 2008 Report to Congress on the Benefits and Costs of Federal Regulation

by Richard Belzer

in Information Quality

On November 7, 2008, Regulatory Checkbook -- Neutral Sourcve's sister nonprofit organization -- filed a public comment on the Office of Management and Budget's draft 2008 Report to Congress on the Benefits and Costs of Federal Regulation.

This public comment also was submitted as a formal Petition for Correction under OMB's Information Quality Guidelines (PDF). Under those guidelines, influential information OMB disseminates must be substantively and presentionally objective, transparent and reproducible, and provide utility for its intended purposes of informing Congress and the public.

The draft Report does not satisfy these information quality standards.

OMB is obligated by its own guidelines to respond within 60 days (i.e., by January 6, 2009).

25 Sep 2008

Benefits and Costs of Federal Regulation:
2008 draft report published for public comment

by Richard Belzer

in Regulatory Economics

The Office of Management and Budget has published its 2008 draft report to Congress on the benefits and costs of federal reguilation. OMB is required by lawe to publish this report every year.

Public comments are due by Friday, November 7, 2008.

31 Dec 2007

Immigration Economics and the Wall Street Journal:
A marriage with irreconcilable differences

by Richard Belzer

in Regulatory Economics

Policy debates about illegal immigration almost always can be illuminated by careful data collection and analysis. Sometimes, data are nice but aren't necessary because elementary economic theory is sufficient to predict the direction (if not the magnitude) of effects. Today, the Wall Street Journal editorializes that new "data tell a very different story" than the picture emerging from "[t]alk radio hosts, cable newscasters and Presidential hopefuls." We're not sure which of these claims the Journal is seeking to refute, but we can show that it has failed to achieve its objective. More...

19 Dec 2007

Can States Regulate Immigration? Part 8
Arizona's HB 2779

by Richard Belzer

in Regulatory Economics, Regulatory Policy

On July 2, Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano signed into law a bill that tightens an existing statutory definition for felonious "aggravated taking identity of another person" and establishes a new statutory regime that will sanction employers who violate federal immigration law after January 1, 2008. The bill passed the State House of Representatives 47-11 and the State Senate 20-4. More...

7 Dec 2007

Can States Regulate Immigration? Part 7
Oregon to consider authorizing in-state tuition for illegal aliens

by Richard Belzer

in Regulatory Economics, Regulatory Policy

The Associated Press reports that Oregon's Board of Higher Education is considering a plan that would offer in-state tuition to qualified graduates of Oregon high schools who are not in the U.S. legally. More...

16 Nov 2007

Can States Regulate Immigration? Part 4b
NY Governor abandons 3-tiered driver license plan

by Richard Belzer

in Regulatory Economics, Regulatory Policy

This week, New York Governor Elliot Spitzer abandoned his plan for a three-tiered driver license program that would have allowed illegal aliens to obtain an inferior-form license. More...

15 Nov 2007

Can States Regulate Immigration? Part 6
New Jersey

by Richard Belzer

in Regulatory Policy

The Associated Press reports that a recent change in law enforcement policy has had discernible effects in New Jersey. More...

7 Nov 2007

Can States Regulate Immigration? Part 5
Results from the 'election market' in Virginia

by Richard Belzer

in Regulatory Policy

Economists often treat elections as markets; candidates are the "supply," voters provide the "demand," and the outcome determines which "product" the public "buys." Perhaps second only to traffic, immigration has become the top local issue in Prince William County, Virginia. We've posted on Prince William County's efforts to indirectly regulate the numbers of illegal aliens whjo reside in the county.

Yesterday elections were held statewide in Virginia. What did the market say? More...

4 Nov 2007

Can States Regulate Immigration? Part 4
An update on the New York State driver license controversy

by Richard Belzer

in Legislation, Regulatory Economics, Regulatory Policy

We recently posted times on various States' efforts to indirectly regulate immigration by supplementing federal immigration law (e.g., Oklahoma), or alternatively, to refuse to leverage State or local resources to enforce these laws (e.g., Illinois). We also looked at New York Governor Spitzer's September change in driver license policy that enabled illegal aliens to obtain valid driver licenses. We concluded that, whatever its merits as a policy, this did not appear to be a significant change from current practice because New York State's proof of identity standards would remain unchanged.

Spitzer's policy change stirred considerable controversy, so we went back to examine the issue in greater detail. Recently, Spitzer revised New York State driver license policy in a very significant way, and a comparison of the two policies reveals much more about how New York is addressing immigration issues. More...

19 Oct 2007

DHS' "No-Match Rule" Stopped by Preliminary Injunction:
The Regulatory Flexibility Act and illegal aliens

by Richard Belzer

in Information Quality, Litigation, Regulatory Policy

On October 10, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer issued a preliminary injunction barring the Department of Homeland Security from implementing a regulation it issued in August that tightened up existing practice in the enforcement of 1986 federal immigration law. The case provides a lesson in administrative procedure -- particularly, how an agency's failure to take obscure procedures seriously can backfire. More...

15 Oct 2007

Can States Regulate Immigration? Part 3:
Reporting errors in today's Washington Post page one story

by Richard Belzer

in Regulatory Policy

Washington Post staff writer Anthony Fiaola has a Page One commentary on actions State and local governments have taken or are considering to regulate immigration within their borders. Fiaola's article contains mostly unattributed opinions (e.g., "some see obstacles"; "some observers fear"; "some observers are alarmed"; "others argue"; "others assert") and few facts or analysis. Because he is the Post's New York City bureau chief and not a beat reporter on immigration issues, he is especially prone to reporting error. We correct his more obvious mistakes. More...