The Presidential Task Force on Regulatory Relief

The materials in FOIA 2003-0614-F are a selective, not necessarily all inclusive, body of documents responsive to the topic of the FOIA. Researchers should consult the archivist about related materials. FOIA 2003-0614-F contains materials regarding the Presidential Task Force on Regulatory Relief. In 1981, shortly after President Ronald Reagan was sworn in, he announced during a cabinet meeting that he had asked Vice President George Bush to chair the Presidential Task Force on Regulatory Relief. President Reagan announced that the federal government should not regulate unless there was a 2003-0614-F 2 demonstrated need, the benefits of regulation should exceed the costs, and the most cost-effective solution should be chosen. In addition to Vice President Bush, President Reagan appointed seven others to serve on the task force: Donald Regan, Secretary of the Treasury; William French Smith, Attorney General of the United States; Malcolm Baldridge, Secretary of Commerce; Raymond Donovan, Secretary of Labor; Martin Anderson, Assistant to the President for Policy Planning; Murray Weidenbaum, Council of Economic Advisors (CEA) Chairman; and David Stockman, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director. James Miller, OMB Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Director, served as the first Executive Director of the Task Force and Richard S. Williamson, from the White House Staff, served as Associate Director. C. Boyden Gray, the counsel to the Vice President, also served as counsel to the Task Force thus rounding out the task force's executive staff. In February of that year, President Reagan signed Executive Order (E.O.) 12291, which required federal agencies to review major proposals by executive branch regulatory agencies, assess executive branch regulations already on the books, and oversee the development of legislative proposals in response to Congressional timetables. Essentially, this meant that the order required agencies to establish regulatory goals, set regulatory priorities, and implement regulations which maximized the benefits to society while imposing the least burden to achieve those benefits. The primary work of the task force was completed in 1983. In December 1986, President Reagan reestablished the task force to again focus on reviewing existing federal regulatory programs, developing legislative or other proposals to eliminate or reduce unnecessary regulatory and paperwork burdens, and follow through on the earlier reviews. Reagan believed this further reduction of statutory barriers would reduce disincentives for large and small businesses, thus encouraging productivity and increasing U.S. economic competitiveness world-wide. Task force members were James A. Baker, Secretary of the Treasury; Edwin Meese III, Attorney General of the United States; Baldridge; William Brock III, Secretary of Labor; Elizabeth Dole, Secretary of Transportation; James C. Miller III, OMB Director; Beryl Sprinkel, CEA Chairman; and Charles D. Hobbs, Acting Assistant to the President for Policy Development. Wendy Lee Gramm, head of the OMB Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, was appointed to serve as the second executive director. C. Boyden Gray once again served as Counsel to the Task Force. Issues addressed were wide-ranging, including the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFÉ) standards program, alternative fuels, deregulation of trucking, banking regulation reforms, housing rehabilitation for people with low incomes and the homeless, workplace safety, drug export controls, investigational drug regulations, and medical coverage for citizens. Other topics for the task force addressed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requirements, compensation systems for third party liability issues of different agencies within the administration; exploration and production of oil and gas, rural American concerns, telecommunication trade competitiveness, pollution control and proposed Clean Air Act amendments, state and local initiatives and regulations as they related to Hawaii and U.S. territories; and immigration. The Staff and Office Files contain primarily memos, letters, newspaper and magazine clippings, news releases, briefing books, reports, papers, and publications maintained by individual staff members and offices. Included in these holdings are correspondence between staffers and administration officials regarding task force meeting arrangements, the role and approach of the task force, proposed schedules of regulations and their status in regard to compliance with E.O. 12291, and a request from Vice President Bush to cabinet heads asking them to review all executive orders for potential modification or rescindment. There are newspaper articles on Vice President Bush's role as the Chair/Director of the Task Force, effects of deregulation on banks and consumers, insider trading studies, domestic business productivity, job availability, and U.S. competitiveness in the world market. Editorials addressing numerous issues also are included in these files. Some of the topics covered are the perceived failure of the task force to safeguard health and safety regulations designed to protect consumer and workers, the auto industry's response to proposed changes, the perceived lack of responsiveness by the FDA to speed up the regulation of investigational drugs for life-threatening illnesses such as AIDS, and apparent abandonment of car fuel economy standards. A couple of notable publications are The Challenge of Global Competitiveness: Views of America's High Growth Companies and Making America More 2003-0614-F 3 Competitive: A Platform for Global Economic Success. A large segment of this FOIA is held in the Peter Teeley Series of the Press Office files. Teeley was Vice President Bush's press secretary. Memos in his holdings discussed the problems of governmental over- regulation, OMB Director David Stockman's explanation of how OMB communicated with the public regarding E.O. 12291, requests for greater public relations efforts, and discussions about critical press stories on the efforts of the task force. Teeley also had multiple types of documents including memos, newspaper articles and editorials, news releases and press briefings, papers, reports, and lists. Topics addressed are the Reagan administration's commitment to regulatory reform, creation and members of the Presidential Task Force on Regulatory Relief, solicitation of help from groups and individuals to identify burdensome regulations, ongoing projects designed to streamline and eliminate federal paperwork, samples of real-life anecdotes illustrating the need for regulatory relief, etc. C. Boyden Gray's files comprise the bulk of the documents for this FOIA - the majority of which are held in his Task Force on Regulatory Reform series. There are memos between administration officials discussing the role and approach to be taken by the task force, between Gray and Vice President Bush regarding task force meeting logistics and Vice President Bush's statements about the task force, and between department heads to Gray listing proposed schedules of regulations and their status in regard to compliance with E.O. 12291. Also present are memos between working group heads and task force members informing them of the status of various proposals and meeting logistics. The remaining correspondence includes numerous letters from think tank members and other private industry leaders sending feedback on the proposals made by the task force to working group heads. News release topics include the creation and reactivation of the task force, actions taken by the task force, establishment of working groups to address specific topics, task force progress reports and guidelines, and speeches by Vice President Bush. Gray kept several newspaper clippings, magazine articles, and editorials concerning topics such as effects of deregulation, insider trading, banking, competitiveness in the world market, export controls, domestic business productivity, availability of jobs, and income tax regulations. Some of the notable papers among Gray's holdings include a copy of E.O. 12291 which authorized the establishment of the task force, briefing books prepared for task force members which contain background information and updates, task force progress reports, and a transcript of Alan Raul's September 1988 presentation, ‘Regulating the Regulators.' Raul, General Counsel in the OMB, gave this talk in Moscow at the U.S. - USSR Legal Seminar Panel on the U.S. Regulatory Process. Another international cooperative effort was the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation. An issue paper, agenda, brief descriptions of most of the participants' regulatory situations, list of invited participants, timeline for regulatory review plans and progress reports are included in this FOIA. There are also present several reports on various topics prepared by officials with the Administrative Conference of the United States. This advisory committee, created in 1961, was charged with making recommendations for the improvement of administrative agencies and their procedures with respect to efficiency and fairness. Notable documents in Gray's files are Southeastern Committee on Regulatory Reform: Memorandum to the Presidential Task Force on Regulatory Relief, Improving Government Regulations: Current Status and Future Directions, Agency Actions on Commission on Federal Paperwork Recommendations: Volume II - Recommendations to Departments, Reagan Administration Achievements: Presidential Task Force on Regulatory Relief August 11, 1983, and Improving Government Regulations: Current Status and Future Directions. Read less