Regulatory Accountability Act of 2017 This bill amends the Administrative Procedure Act to revise and expand the requirements for federal agency rulemaking by requiring agencies, in making a rule, to base all preliminary and final factual determinations on evidence and to consider the legal authority under which the rule may be proposed, the specific nature and significance of the problem the agency may address with the rule, any reasonable alternatives for the rule, and the potential costs and benefits associated with such alternatives. The bill requires agencies to publish advance notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register for major rules and for high-impact rules (rules having an annual cost on the economy of $100 million or $1 billion or more, respectively) and for negative-impact on jobs and wages rules and those that involve a novel legal or policy issue arising out of statutory mandates. The notice must include a written statement identifying the nature and significance of the problem the agency may address with a rule, the legal authority under which the rule may be proposed, the nature of and potential reasons to adopt a novel legal or policy position, and a solicitation for written data, views, or arguments from interested persons. Additionally, the bill: (1) sets forth criteria for issuing major guidance (agency guidance that is likely to lead to an annual cost on the economy of $100 million or more, a major increase in cost or prices, or significant adverse effects on competition, employment, investment, productivity, innovation, or ability to compete) or guidance that involves a novel legal or policy issue arising out of statutory mandates; and (2) expands the scope of judicial review of agency rulemaking by allowing immediate review of rulemaking not in compliance with notice requirements and establishing a substantial evidence standard for affirming agency rulemaking decisions.
HR 45 - 115Regulatory Accountability Act of 2017
Referred to the Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial And Antitrust Law.
Bill Text Stats
Affected Sectors
How to read this
Sectors are deterministic matches from official Congress.gov data and cached bill text. They are source-derived signals, not conclusions about intent or economic effect.
Evidence matches count official fields, normalized subjects, cached text snippets, or extracted entities that matched the sector rules.
Impact is a bill-level rollup used for sorting and filtering. It is not an economic impact estimate.
Confidence is the strongest individual match score behind that sector.
Evidence snippets show why a sector matched and can repeat when Congress.gov repeats the same phrase across official fields.
CBO Cost Estimates
Official Congressional Budget Office cost estimate links associated with this bill through Congress.gov records.
How to read this
CBO estimates are official source documents with their own assumptions, scope, and publication dates. They can score a bill, a version of a bill, or a broader legislative package.
LawLinter stores the source link from Congress.gov and does not replace the CBO document. Use these cards as pointers for source review, not as independent fiscal advice.
CBO context shows source-attributed Congressional Budget Office cost estimates linked from official Congress.gov bill records. It is research context only; read the official CBO source document for assumptions, scope, and dates.
Campaign Finance Context
Related FEC/OpenFEC campaign-finance records for lawmakers and candidates tied to this bill through source-attributed legislative relationships. These are not donations to the bill itself.
How to read this
Amounts shown here are campaign-finance totals for sponsor or cosponsor-linked candidates and their committees in the displayed FEC cycle.
They are not donations to this bill, spending on this bill, or proof that money influenced or caused sponsorship, cosponsorship, votes, or legislative outcomes.
If multiple linked lawmakers have FEC records, this section can show multiple candidate cards and separate sponsor/cosponsor rollups.
Campaign-finance context uses source-attributed FEC/OpenFEC records that are related or relevant to the displayed bill, lawmaker, candidate, committee, or legislative relationship through deterministic links. It is research context only, not proof of influence, causation, endorsement, or that money caused a sponsorship, vote, or legislative outcome.
Lobbying Context
Related LDA.gov filings where public lobbying activity descriptions reference this bill. These records are source-attributed research context, not evidence of influence or causation.
How to read this
LDA filings are public lobbying disclosure records. LawLinter links them here only when the filing activity text contains an exact-looking reference to this bill.
A filing can mention many issues, clients, agencies, or bills. A match should be treated as a pointer for review, not as a conclusion about why legislation changed or how any lawmaker acted.
Lobbying context uses source-attributed LDA.gov records that appear related to this bill through bill references in public lobbying activity descriptions. It is research context only, not proof of influence, causation, endorsement, lobbying effectiveness, or legislative intent.
Summary
Sponsors
Timeline
Referred to the Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial And Antitrust Law.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.