WASHINGTON -- Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan on Wednesday introduced his most sweeping piece of legislation since joining Congress -- an effort to pare back federal regulations, one at a time.
Sullivan said regulations are holding back U.S. economic growth, impeding the nation's ability to manage its massive debt, crumbling infrastructure, shrinking military and struggling social programs.
"I believe a huge part of what's holding us back… is actually this town, and the federal government, and the agencies here that are stifling economic growth with red tape from the alphabet soup of agencies -- the IRS, the EPA, the BLM -- that are constantly promulgating new regulations," Sullivan said on the Senate floor Wednesday afternoon.
His bill would institute a one-in, one-out system for regulations: Any agency that issues a new or amended rule or guidance document would have to repeal an existing regulation at the same time. If an agency refuses, cost-of-living adjustments would be withheld from the agency.
It's unclear how agencies would select regulations to eliminate, or how many they could legally repeal, since most regulations stem from requirements in laws enacted by Congress. Agencies often fail to enact regulations as required by law and are forced to act by the courts.
Still, Sullivan said Wednesday the bill would help rein in a regulatory system he believes has spiraled out of control, with economic costs reaching $1.88 trillion every year.
Alaska is "ground zero for many over-burdensome regulations. Bridges, roads, mines take years simply to permit, not to build. In rural Alaska, we're letting trash pile up because they don't make small, portable incinerators that comply with EPA regulations. Because of federal roadless rules in Southeast Alaska, we can't even build new alternative energy plants for the energy-starved citizens of my state," he said.
Sullivan said his bill will eliminate regulations "that I think everybody agrees have been strangling our economy."
The U.S. has a comparative advantage over other countries, Sullivan said, citing its entrepreneurial spirit, university system, fisheries, military, and agricultural, high tech and energy sectors.
"We have all the aces. In that big global game of poker, we've got a great hand," Sullivan said.
The bill, introduced just before the Senate adjourned for August recess, is Sullivan's fifth proposed stand-alone bill since he took office in January.
This week he also introduced a bill to amend the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to shift federal lands to more Alaska veterans, a companion to a bill Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, introduced in the House.
Sullivan's other stand-alone bills include shifting an unused piece of federal property to state control in Anchorage and two bills focused on fisheries issues.
The Senate reconvenes Sept. 8.