Reduce Red Tape Through Regulatory and Mandate Relief Background The number of new requirements imposed on state and local governments have increased dramatically during the last decade. As of December 1992, at least 172 separate pieces of federal legislation were in force that imposed mandates on states and localities--many of which were partially or wholly unfunded.[Endnote 1] Facing a growing burden of complying with new unfunded requirements while experiencing severe budget constraints, state and local governments are demanding relief. There is no more constant complaint by states and localities about any federal practice than the imposition of unfunded mandates on lower levels of government. In Reviving the American Dream, Alice Rivlin notes that: "The federal government's own fiscal weakness has not made it any less eager to tell states and localities what to do. Indeed, when its ability to make grants declined, the federal government turned increasingly to mandates as a way of controlling state and local activity without having to pay the bill."[Endnote 2] She goes on to say: "Mandates add to citizen confusion about who is in charge. When the federal government makes rules for state and local officials to carry out [whether or not they have the resources to do so], it is not clear to voters who should be blamed, either when the regulations are laxly enforced or when the cost of compliance is high."[Endnote 3] The ability of federal departments and agencies to grant regulatory and mandate relief is more limited than many may appreciate. Authority to waive programmatic regulations is currently limited to research and demonstration projects under the auspices of the secretaries of Health and Human Services and Agriculture (and is statutorily granted in the Social Security and Food Stamps laws, respectively). While some latitude exists for other agency and department heads to modify, extend, and adjust executive regulations and compliance deadlines (e.g., in the Environmental Protection Agency), the majority of the most onerous federal mandates and regulations are statutorily imposed, affording little room for negotiation or flexibility. Need For Change As in the case of categorical grant programs, while each individual mandate and regulation may seem justified and reasonable, in combination they impose burdens on states and localities that make it less likely, rather than more likely, that overall federal goals can be met. The cumulative impact may force states and localities to adopt cost-ineffective strategies simply to achieve simultaneous compliance, or forgo the ability to make real progress toward critical benchmarks because they lack sufficient resources to simultaneously achieve all the goals set by the statutorily or administratively required deadlines. Cross References to Other NPR Accompanying Reports Streamline Management Controls, SMC08: Expand the Use of Waivers to Encourage Innovation. Endnotes 1. "The Mandate Monitor," National Conference of State Legislatures, December 1992. 2. Rivlin, Alice, Reviving the American Dream (Washington, D.C.: The Brookings Institution, 1992), p. 107. 3. Ibid, p. 109.
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