To: Members of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform
From: National Taxpayers Union
Date: May 21, 2025
Subject: NTU’s Views on May 21, 2025, Committee Markup
I. Introduction and Key Taxpayer Considerations
On behalf of National Taxpayers Union (NTU), the nation’s oldest taxpayer advocacy organization, we write to express our views on several measures slated for consideration before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform on May 21, 2025. NTU applauds the Committee for your continued efforts to advance legislation that improves government efficiency, enhances transparency, and protects taxpayers from wasteful spending. As such, NTU strongly urges Committee members to support H.R. 580, H.R. 2409, and H.R. 67.
II. Legislation NTU Supports at May 21 Markup
H.R. 580 - The Unfunded Mandates Accountability and Transparency Act - Support. House Rules Committee Chair Virginia Foxx’s (R-NC) Unfunded Mandates Accountability and Transparency Act would improve reporting of unfunded mandates by extending reporting requirements to fifteen independent agencies that were excluded from the original law. These include powerful regulators such as the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Communications Commission, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. The proposal would also strengthen enforcement by creating a point of order against proposed private sector mandates, another oversight in the original law.
H.R. 2409 - The Guidance Clarity Act - Support. This legislation, introduced by Rep. Eric Burlison (R-MO), would require all federal agencies to include a guidance clarity statement that states the guidance is not issued in accordance with the rulemaking process and therefore is not legally binding. While guidance documents are solely intended to clarify an agency’s policy or interpretation of a regulation, agencies have recently used guidance to issue new policy as if it were a binding regulation. Since guidance is not subject to the same public process as formal rules, which are required to be shared with the public for comments and input prior to finalization, regulatory guidance documents can be used to circumvent public input.
H.R. 67 - Modernizing Retrospective Regulatory Review Act – Support. This legislation, introduced by Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), would direct the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) to leverage technology to enhance the efficiency and accuracy of reviews of outdated and redundant regulations. The Congressional Research Service has reported that 3,000 to 4,000 final rules are published each year, which no doubt creates some level of redundancy among existing rules. This proposal will help deliver the certainty that businesses need when complying with the incredibly high amount of regulations that exist in the current system.
III. Contact Information
Should you have any questions about the recommendations in this memo, please do not hesitate to reach out to Thomas Aiello at taiello@ntu.org.