Miller Fought to Protect Taxpayers, Workers' Lives from House Republican Efforts to Impose Unnecessary, Onerous New Requirements
WASHINGTON—Today House Republicans jammed misguided legislation through the House that would unnecessarily hamstring the federal government’s efforts to protect taxpayers and preserve American lives. In response to the 60 onerous new requirements included in the All Economic Regulations Are Transparent Act (Alert) Act (H.R. 2804), Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) offered two amendments aimed at safeguarding taxpayers and students, protecting public and workplace safety and health, and otherwise increasing the effectiveness or efficiency of agency activities. These amendments were voted down along strict party lines.
Reps. Miller’s first amendment to the bill would enable the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to enact much-needed regulations to prevent combustible dust explosions and fires in the workplace by exempting the combustible dust regulation, which is currently in the process of being developed, from the Alert Act’s requirements.
“This bill will would impose layers of red tape and erect new obstacles to protecting American lives,” says Miller, senior Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee. “Despite the clear need to move forward, this bill would give special interests new ways to block vital protections from combustible dust. The sad truth is that the underlying bill is nothing more than an effort to put the powerful above the lives and limbs of working families—and their widows.”
Miller’s second amendment, co-sponsored by Representative Joe Courtney (D-CT), would exempt regulations that have been recommended by Inspectors General from the Alert Act and its unnecessarily burdensome procedural delays, which would save taxpayers billions of dollars.
“Inspectors General are the taxpayers’ independent watchdogs. They perform an investigative role that is above politics, seeking to find out what’s gone wrong and what should be done to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of government,” says Miller. “This bill’s lengthy list of additional procedures would add years to the rulemaking process and significantly hamstring the federal government’s ability to adopt regulations that protect taxpayers in a timely manner. My amendment would ensure that this bill does not compromise the ability of agencies to protect taxpayers from waste, fraud, and abuse.”
Learn more about Representative Miller’s efforts to prevent industrial dust explosions here.
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