Attorney General Brad Schimel and West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey are leading a 14-state coalition urging a federal court to uphold an executive order aimed at reducing the regulatory burden on state governments and citizens.
“In recent years, bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. have been expanding their power and reach through regulatory actions, and little has been done to remove unnecessary federal regulations,” said Attorney General Schimel. “This executive order will protect Wisconsin from more years of the same, allow Wisconsinites to operate in a simplified regulatory environment, and protect our state’s sovereignty.”
The friend-of-the-court brief, filed late Monday, defends the “1-in-2-out” rule, which strives to eliminate unnecessary and costly regulation by requiring the federal bureaucracy to do away with two regulations for every new rule it creates. The coalition argues that the executive order effectively reins in a bureaucracy that has implemented a far greater regulatory burden than Congress ever envisioned.
The brief further contends past presidents, of both political parties, have enacted similar mechanisms to ensure review of regulations within the executive branch. Such measures have instructed agencies to consider the cumulative costs, the impact on the national economy and the effect of rules on state and local government.
Wisconsin and West Virginia filed the coalition’s brief before the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Other states participating are Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Nevada, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas and Wyoming.