A group of senators led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren has introduced a bill to combat the Supreme Court’s seismic pro-corporate decision last month to overturn a precedent known as Chevron deference that has enabled federal agencies to issue regulations for decades. Via Truthout:
Ten senators joined Warren on Tuesday in introducing the bill that would codify the Chevron doctrine and reform regulatory processes to make them more transparent and streamlined.
For four decades, judges have cited Chevron deference in allowing agencies and their experts to interpret laws to make rules regarding a wide range of topics, including labor rights, environmental protections, public health, food safety, and more. Ensuring that Chevron, which has been cited in over 19,000 judicial opinions, is law would prevent what experts said will be years of corporations suing to overturn a wide swath of regulations that protect the public and cut into profits.
On top of codifying Chevron, the bill would create an office to give the public more participation in agencies’ rule proposals and mandate that agencies respond to public petitions on rules that garner at least 100,000 signatures. It would also create a time limit for regulatory review and expand the parameters that agencies must use in cost-benefit calculations for a rule to include less quantifiable characteristics like combating discrimination.
