A bill introduced in the Senate last month that could slow thepace new regulations coming from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau may be addressed during aSept. 20 meeting of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security andGovernmental Affairs.

S. 3468, introduced by Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Susan Collins(R-Maine) in August, would require independent agencies like theCFPB and NCUA to analyze the costs and benefits of new regulationsand tailor new rules to minimize unnecessary burdens on the economy.

The bill adopts a key recommendation of the president's JobsCouncil, according to a release from Warner's office.

“It is important to strike the right balance between protectingvital public safeguards and imposing costly regulations,” Warnersaid. “However, we all agree that basic cost-benefit principlesshould apply to all regulators. This bipartisan legislation willhelp to ensure that all agencies only advance major regulationswith a firm understanding about their impact on the economy.”

Independent agencies have not been required to scrutinize thecost and effects of major new regulations as federal agencies have.The bill would fill that gap by authorizing the president to bringindependent agencies into the same analysis and review process thatgoverns other regulators.

“Independent agencies exercise vast power over majorsectors our economy — from telecom, to agriculture, to financialservices — but they are exempt from common-sense requirementsincluding cost-benefit analysis of major regulations to ensure theydo more good than harm,” Portman said.

“This bill would close the loophole for independent agencies byauthorizing the president to bring them within the same regulatoryreview framework that applies to other agencies,” he said. “This isa bipartisan, consensus reform with broad support, and it willpromote a more stable regulatory environment for economic growthand job creation”

According to government records sourced by Warner's office,since 2008, 58 new major final rules have been issues byindependent agencies but only one was based upon a completecost-benefit analysis.