Transparency in CFPB Cost-Benefit Analysis Act

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1362 To amend the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 to enhance rule- making requirements for the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 27, 2023 Mr. KENNEDY (for himself, Mr. HAGERTY, and Ms. LUMMIS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs A BILL To amend the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 to enhance rulemaking requirements for the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Transparency in 4 CFPB Cost-Benefit Analysis Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. TRANSPARENCY IN COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS. 6 Section 1022(b) of the Consumer Financial Protec- 7 tion Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5512(b)) is amended by add- 8 ing at the end the following: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:56 May 05, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1362.IS S1362 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1362 IS ‘‘(5) ADDITIONAL RULEMAKING REQUIRE- 1 MENTS.— 2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each notice of pro- 3 posed rulemaking issued by the Bureau shall be 4 published in its entirety in the Federal Register 5 and shall include— 6 ‘‘(i) a statement of the need for the 7 proposed regulation; 8 ‘‘(ii) an examination of why the Bu- 9 reau must undertake the proposed regula- 10 tion and why the private market, State, 11 local, or tribal authorities cannot ade- 12 quately address the problem; 13 ‘‘(iii) an examination of whether the 14 proposed regulation is duplicative, incon- 15 sistent, or incompatible with other Federal 16 regulations and orders; 17 ‘‘(iv) if the proposed regulation is 18 found to be duplicative, inconsistent, or in- 19 compatible with other Federal regulations 20 and orders, a discussion of— 21 ‘‘(I) why the proposed regulation 22 is justified; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:56 May 05, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1362.IS S1362 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1362 IS ‘‘(II) how the proposed regulation 1 can coexist with the existing regula- 2 tions; and 3 ‘‘(III) how the Bureau plans to 4 reduce the regulatory burden associ- 5 ated with the duplicative, inconsistent, 6 or incompatible proposed regulation; 7 ‘‘(v) a quantitative and qualitative as- 8 sessment of all anticipated direct and indi- 9 rect costs and benefits of the proposed reg- 10 ulation, including— 11 ‘‘(I) compliance costs for all reg- 12 ulated entities, including small busi- 13 nesses; 14 ‘‘(II) effects on economic activity, 15 efficiency, competition and capital for- 16 mation; 17 ‘‘(III) regulatory and administra- 18 tive costs of implementation; and 19 ‘‘(IV) costs imposed on State, 20 local and tribal entities; 21 ‘‘(vi) an identification of reasonable 22 alternatives to the regulation, including 23 modification of an existing regulation; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:56 May 05, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1362.IS S1362 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1362 IS ‘‘(vii) an analysis of the costs and 1 benefits, both quantitative and qualitative, 2 of any alternative identified pursuant to 3 clause (v); 4 ‘‘(viii) if the Bureau determines the 5 proposed regulation would increase costs 6 for small businesses, then the Bureau shall 7 consult the Office of Advocacy within the 8 Small Business Administration to deter- 9 mine ways to minimize the effect of direct 10 and indirect costs imposed on small busi- 11 nesses by the proposed regulation; 12 ‘‘(ix) if quantified net benefits of the 13 proposed action do not outweigh the quan- 14 tified net benefits of the alternatives, a jus- 15 tification of the regulation; 16 ‘‘(x) if quantified benefits identified 17 pursuant to clause (iv) do not outweigh the 18 quantified costs of the regulation, a jus- 19 tification of the regulation; 20 ‘‘(xi) an assessment of how the bur- 21 den imposed by the regulation will be dis- 22 tributed; including whether consumers, or 23 small businesses will be disproportionately 24 burdened; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:56 May 05, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1362.IS S1362 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1362 IS ‘‘(xii) when feasible, and using appro- 1 priate statistical techniques, a probability 2 distribution of the relevant outcomes of the 3 proposed regulation. 4 ‘‘(B) ASSUMPTIONS AND STUDIES USED.— 5 With respect to the information required to be 6 included under subparagraph (A), the Bureau 7 will include— 8 ‘‘(i) a discussion of underlying as- 9 sumptions used as a basis for such infor- 10 mation; and 11 ‘‘(ii) a description of any studies or 12 data used in preparing such information, 13 and whether such studies were peer-re- 14 viewed.’’. 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:56 May 05, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1362.IS S1362 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS