March 4, 2013

Congresswoman Virginia Foxx joins Shannon Bream at America's News Headquarters to discuss her bipartisan legislation, the Unfunded Mandates Information and Transparency Act. Every year Washington imposes thousands of rules on local governments and small businesses. Hidden in those rules are costly mandates that stretch state and city budgets and make it harder for North Carolina businesses to hire. At the very least policymakers and unelected regulators should know the price of what they dictate. The Unfunded Mandates Information & Transparency Act will help restore honesty and transparency to federal mandates and ensure Washington bureaucrats are held accountable for seeking public input and considering the negative consequences, in dollars and in jobs, prospective mandates will impose on the economy. Six years of work have gone into advancing this legislation, and there should be no further delay to its passage. Times are tight for families across this country. Millions of Americans remain unemployed, and many more still rely on small businesses and local governments for jobs, health care, public safety, and education. Washington should think carefully before it decrees regulation that could siphon from the limited dollars cities and small businesses use to keep people employed and localities functioning.