I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8006 

To direct the Comptroller General of the United States to issue regulatory 

scorecards to agencies, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 11, 2020 

Mr. GOSAR introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Oversight and Reform, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each 

case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of 

the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To direct the Comptroller General of the United States to 

issue regulatory scorecards to agencies, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Regulatory Report 

5 Card Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REGULATORY SCORECARD. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after the 

8 date of the enactment of this section, and every 2 years 


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1 thereafter, the Comptroller General shall issue to each 

2 agency, and provide contemporaneously to the Committee 

3 on Oversight and Reform of the House of Representatives 

4 and the Committee on Homeland Security and Govern5 mental Affairs of the Senate, a regulatory scorecard that 

6 assesses the regulatory activities conducted by each such 

7 agency— 

8 (1) over the life of each such agency; and 

9 (2) in prior 2 years. 

10 (b) PUBLIC PUBLICATION.—Not later than 1 month 

11 after scorecard is issued under subsection (a), such score12 card shall be made available to the public on a website 

13 of the Comptroller General. 

14 (c) REQUIREMENT TO TESTIFY.—Except as provided 

15 by the Chair of the Committee on Oversight and Reform 

16 of the House of Representatives or the Chair of the Com17 mittee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

18 of the Senate, as applicable, not later than 6 months after 

19 the scorecard is made available to the public under sub20 section (a), an official who oversees the regulatory policy 

21 of an agency, or a spokesperson of that agency, shall tes22 tify to the Committee on Oversight and Reform of the 

23 House of Representatives and the Committee on Home24 land Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate 

25 on— 


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1 (1) the most recent regulatory scorecard issued 

2 for the agency; and 

3 (2) any action taken by the agency to improve 

4 such scorecard. 

5 (d) REGULATIONS.—The Comptroller General may 

6 issue regulations as may be necessary to carry out this 

7 section. 

8 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 (1) ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE ACT.—The 

10 term ‘‘Administrative Procedure Act’’ means sub11 chapter II of chapter 5 of title 5, United States 

12 Code. 

13 (2) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ has the 

14 meaning given that term in section 551 of title 5, 

15 United States Code. 

16 (3) COMPTROLLER GENERAL.—The term 

17 ‘‘Comptroller General’’ means the Comptroller Gen18 eral of the United States. 

19 (4) COVERED QUESTION.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

21 subparagraph (B), the term ‘‘covered question’’ 

22 means a question as follows: 

23 (i) Is your agency in compliance with 

24 Executive Order 13771 (requiring agencies 

25 to remove two regulations for every one 


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1 proposed regulation), or any successor 

2 order? 

3 (ii) Is your agency in compliance with 

4 Executive Order 13777 (requiring regu5 latory reform officer and task force for 

6 each agency), or any successor order? 

7 (iii) Does your agency estimate and 

8 publicly disclose— 

9 (I) the estimated annual cost to 

10 the overall economy of the United 

11 States of all regulations issued by 

12 agency, including any guidance docu13 ment issued by the agency; and 

14 (II) the annual cost to the agen15 cy of enforcing such regulations? 

16 (iv) Are all formal regulations issued 

17 after the date of the enactment of this Act 

18 but within the prior 2 years, under sec19 tions 556 and 557 of title 5, United States 

20 Code, in compliance with the Administra21 tive Procedure Act? 

22 (v) Are all hybrid regulations issued 

23 after the date of the enactment of this Act 

24 but within the prior 2 years, under section 

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1 pliance with the Administrative Procedure 

2 Act, and any other procedural require3 ments under applicable law? 

4 (vi) Are all informal regulations 

5 issued after the date of the enactment of 

6 this Act but within the prior 2 years, 

7 under section 553 of title 5, United States 

8 Code, in compliance with the Administra9 tive Procedure Act? 

10 (vii) Does your agency publicly dis11 close all regulatory guidance in a central12 ized web-based location? 

13 (viii) Does your agency submit a copy 

14 of a regulation to Congress and the Comp15 troller General, in accordance with chapter 

16 8 of title 5, United States Code (commonly 

17 known as the ‘‘Congressional Review 

18 Act’’)? 

19 (ix) Does your agency include sunset 

20 provisions on a majority of regulations 

21 issued after the date of the enactment of 

22 this Act but within the prior 2 years? 

23 (x) Does your agency publicly disclose 

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1 ties in complying with regulations issued 

2 by the agency? 

3 (xi) Does your agency submit all sig4 nificant regulatory actions to the Office of 

5 Information and Regulatory Affairs for re6 view in compliance with Executive Order 

7 12866, or any successor order? 

8 (xii) Does your agency allow for pub9 lic notice and comment on regulatory guid10 ance? 

11 (xiii) Does your agency submit copies 

12 of regulatory guidance to Congress and the 

13 Comptroller General? 

14 (B) DISCRETION.—The following shall not 

15 be considered a covered question if the Execu16 tive order that is the subject of the question is 

17 rescinded: 

18 (i) The question described under 

19 clause (i). 

20 (ii) The question described under 

21 clause (ii). 

22 (iii) The question described under 

23 clause (xi). 


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1 (5) ECONOMIC IMPACT SCORE.—The term ‘‘eco2 nomic impact score’’ means a score calculated by the 

3 Comptroller General on the basis of— 

4 (A) the ongoing impact score, calculated 

5 by— 

6 (i) determining the total estimated 

7 cost incurred by individuals and entities 

8 over the life of the agency in complying 

9 with regulations issued by the agency; and 

10 (ii) dividing such cost by the total 

11 number of regulations issued by the agency 

12 over the life of the agency; and 

13 (B) the term economic impact score, cal14 culated by— 

15 (i) determining the total estimated 

16 cost incurred by individuals and entities in 

17 the prior two years in complying with regu18 lations issued by the agency; and 

19 (ii) dividing such cost by the total 

20 number of regulations issued by the agency 

21 in the prior two years. 

22 (6) GUIDANCE DOCUMENT.—The term ‘‘guid23 ance document’’— 

24 (A) means an agency statement of general 

25 applicability (other than a regulation that has 


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1 the force and effect of law promulgated in ac2 cordance with the notice and public procedure 

3 under section 553 of title 5, United States 

4 Code) that— 

5 (i) does not have the force and effect 

6 of law; and 

7 (ii) sets forth— 

8 (I) an agency decision or a policy 

9 on a statutory, regulatory, or tech10 nical issue; or 

11 (II) an interpretation of a statu12 tory or regulatory issue; and 

13 (B) may include any of the following: 

14 (i) A memorandum. 

15 (ii) A notice. 

16 (iii) A bulletin. 

17 (iv) A directive. 

18 (v) A news release. 

19 (vi) A letter. 

20 (vii) A blog post. 

21 (viii) A no-action letter. 

22 (ix) A speech by an agency official. 

23 (x) An advisory. 

24 (xi) A manual. 

25 (xii) A circular. 


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1 (xiii) Any combination of the items 

2 described in clauses (i) through (xii). 

3 (7) REGULATION.—The term ‘‘regulation’’— 

4 (A) means an agency statement of general 

5 applicability and future effect, which the agency 

6 intends to have the force and effect of law, that 

7 is designed to implement, interpret, or prescribe 

8 law or policy or to describe the procedure or 

9 practice requirements of an agency; 

10 (B) includes regulations issued pursuant 

11 to— 

12 (i) an informal rulemaking under sec13 tion 553 of title 5, United States Code; 

14 (ii) a formal rulemaking under sec15 tions 556 and 557 of title 5, United States 

16 Code; and 

17 (iii) any combination of the informal 

18 rulemaking described in clause (i) and the 

19 formal rulemaking described in clause (ii); 

20 and 

21 (C) does not include— 

22 (i) regulations that pertain to a mili23 tary or foreign affairs function of the 

24 United States, other than procurement 

25 regulations and regulations involving the 


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1 import or export of non-defense articles 

2 and services; 

3 (ii) regulations or regulations that are 

4 limited to agency organization, manage5 ment, or personnel matters; or 

6 (iii) any other category of regulations 

7 exempted by the Administrator of Office of 

8 Information and Regulatory Affairs. 

9 (8) REGULATORY POLICY SCORE.—The term 

10 ‘‘regulatory policy score’’ means a score calculated 

11 by the Comptroller General by— 

12 (A) adding one point for each affirmative 

13 answer provided by an agency to a covered 

14 question; and 

15 (B) dividing the total number of points 

16 added under subparagraph (A) by the total 

17 number of covered questions for which answers 

18 are provided by the agency. 

19 (9) REGULATORY SCORECARD.—The term ‘‘reg20 ulatory scorecard’’ means a scorecard that provides 

21 an A, B, C, D, or F grade for the regulatory activi22 ties of an agency, determined by the Comptroller 

23 General only on the basis of the number that is the 


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1 average of the regulatory policy score for such agen2 cy and the economic impact score for such agency. 

Æ 


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