WASHINGTON - According to a report issued by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the Bush administration has succeeded in reining-in the growing cost of federal regulations, cutting their annual growth rate by 68 percent since 2001 and reducing their burden on the American economy. In addition, the annual increase in the benefit of federal regulations has almost doubled, says the OMB.

Between 1981 and 2000, new regulations issued by the federal government imposed an average of $5.5 billion in additional costs to businesses, consumers, and state and local governments every year. Since 2001, however, that growth rate has declined significantly. The annual increase of regulatory costs has fallen to $1.7 billion annually, a 68 percent decrease in the growth rate of the previous 20 years.

Similarly, the average annual net benefit of major regulations issued between 2001 and 2004 is over double the average for the previous eight years.

The reduction in the average annual growth rate of regulatory costs is said to be a result of a focus on reforming government regulations to accelerate the adoption of appropriate rules, modify existing rules to make them more effective and less costly, and remove outmoded rules whose benefits do not justify their costs.

Publication date: 12/26/2005