The COVID pandemic continues to wreak havoc on the lives and economic well-being of the American people, and policymakers should look to remove inefficient regulatory barriers that may stall public health and economic recovery responses.
Senators Lankford, Johnson and Portman and Representatives Foxx and Comer recently introduced the Pandemic Preparedness, Response, and Recovery Act of 2020 (S. 4708/H.R. 8038). This legislation would establish a commission to examine burdensome regulations that may be modified or repealed to promote economic growth, reduce compliance costs, improve competitiveness, and protect public health. The commission would build on the Trump Administration’s success, which suspended or changed many regulations in response to the COVID pandemic.
As Americans continue down the road to recovery, they must not be burdened by red tape and compliance costs that come with unnecessary or outdated regulations. Instead, small business owners and entrepreneurs should be free to drive economic recovery and maintain America’s entrepreneurial spirit.
As The Heritage Foundation’s director of the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies Paul Winfree, and Richard F. Aster fellow Charmaine Yoest, have written,
Government bureaucracy should not delay public health response efforts or stall economic recovery. Initial failures in coronavirus response caused by many unneeded, inefficient regulatory barriers are the consequence of heavy-handed government regulations.
Heritage Action supports the legislation and encourages Members and Senators to cosponsor the bill.