President Orders Enforcement of Regulatory Reform Agenda

• Published date: 01 May 2017
• Date: 01 May 2017
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/npc.30313

THE LAW OF TAX-EXEMPT ORGANIZATIONS MONTHLY

PRESIDENT ORDERS

ENFORCEMENT

OF REGULATORY

REFORM AGENDA

President Trump, on February 24, issued an executive order on the subject

of “enforcing the regulatory reform agenda.” Therein it is stated that it is the

policy of the United States to “alleviate unnecessary regulatory burdens placed

on the American people.”

Within 60 days of the order’s date, the head of each agency must (unless

granted a waiver) designate an agency official as its “regulatory reform officer.”

These officers are to “oversee the implementation of regulatory reform initiatives

and policies to ensure that agencies effectively carry out regulatory reforms, con-

sistent with applicable law.”

Each agency is to establish a regulatory reform task force. These task forces

are required to evaluate existing regulations and make recommendations to the

agency head regarding their “repeal, replacement, or modification.” Each task

force is requested to attempt to identify regulations that, among other aspects,

eliminate jobs or inhibit job creation; are outdated, unnecessary, or ineffective;

impose costs that exceed benefits; and create a “serious inconsistency or other-

wise interfere with regulatory reform initiatives and policies.”

Within 90 days of February 24, each of these task forces is to provide a report

to the agency head detailing the agency’s progress toward the following goals:

(1) improving implementation of regulatory reform initiatives and policies and (2)

identifying regulations for repeal, replacement, or modification.

Elinor Ramey, an attorney-advisor at the Treasury Department, noting at a

recent conference that the position of the Assistant Treasury Secretary for Tax

Policy has not been filled, said that “we are in a transition period” and that, as

to the “two-for-one” requirement (see last month’s issue), “[w]e are still working

through what that means and what it will mean for regulations and guidance

across the board” (Bloomberg BNA, Daily Tax Report, February 27).

Commentary: An appropriate place for Treasury to begin is elimination of the

policies by which the IRS has unnecessarily launched and maintained its unwar-© 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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DOI:10.1002/npc

Analysis of current developments in tax

and related law for nonprofit organiza-

tions and their professional advisors.

Volume 34 Number 5

May 2017

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