Griffin-led Measure To Freeze Regulations Passes House

Second District Rep. Tim Griffin (R) did something few freshman lawmakers ever do – he passed a bill that he was the lead sponsor on.

Griffin's bill, the Red Tape Reduction and Small Business Job Creation Act, passed the House of Representatives on a 245-172 vote, largely on party lines but with the support of 13 Democrats, including Fourth District Cong. Mike Ross (D).

Malcolm Glover, with our content partner KUAR-FM 89 News, reports:

The measure would freeze major government regulations until the nation’s unemployment rate drops to 6 percent. With the current rate of unemployment at 8.2 percent, Griffin says the bill would help tackle any new regulations that are excessive or poorly written.

“My bill only deals with regulations that have a $100 million impact on the economy so those are what are called significant or major regulations under President Clinton’s executive order from the 90s,” said Griffin.

“What this bill seeks to do is not to repeal any regulations; it doesn’t impact current regulations; it just says we need to take a deep breath, we need to have a time-out, and let’s let a lot of these job creators catch-up,” he said.

The bill is expected to encounter rougher sledding in the Democratic-controlled Senate.