We encourage you to co-sponsor H.R. 8204, the Regulatory Early Notice and Engagement Act. This bipartisan legislation would reform the federal regulatory process to make it more transparent, accountable, and responsive to the public. The end result will be better regulation.

Introduced by Representatives Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA), Don Davis (D-NC), and Tim Burchett (R-TN), H.R. 8204 would require that, within one week after initiating a new rulemaking activity, a federal agency would have to make public on its website and send to Congress a regulatory early notice, which must:

• - identify the problem the rule is intended to address and state whether the rule is required by law, necessary to interpret law, or made necessary to address a compelling public need, such as a material failure of private markets,
• - state whether existing regulations or other laws have created, or contributed to, the problem that a new regulation is intended to correct,
• - state whether the agency identified and assessed available alternatives to direct regulation, including the alternative of not regulating, and
• - invite the public to provide the agency with recommendations on how to accomplish the objectives of the rule most effectively and at least cost.