February 22, 2013

What You Need To Know Now...

Could The Commish Be Run Like Any Other Business?
Should regulators be just as cost-conscious as enterprises? According to the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Center for Technology and Information, the FCC is the third most expensive agency when it comes to the costs imposed on Americans by its regulations. Its newest report card says businesses spend $142 billion annually to comply with FCC regs, and only two agencies cost more: the Department of Health and Human Services ($184.8 billion) and the Environmental Protection Agency ($353 billion). Federal agencies published 3,706 final rules in 2012 and, of those, 108 came from the FCC – a new one every 2.3 working days. The report card does make a few suggestions: The FCC should publish its own report card annually; and the agency should be more forthcoming with its cost analyses, including estimated costs with every new docket. Finally, the Center says the fed should publish an annual total estimated cost of all current FCC rules because the commish’s $347.6 million budget “is far from the only cost it imposes on taxpayers and businesses.”