S. 3119: Reducing Excessive Government Act of 2016

114th Congress · introduced 2016-06-29 · Government Operations and Politics · Latest: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

Where it came from: introduced 2016-06-29 · official record
Who proposed it: Sen. Gardner, Cory [R-CO] · what a sponsor is
What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
Where it stands now: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

Reducing Excessive Government Act of 2016

Plain summary

Reducing Excessive Government Act of 2016 or the REG Act This bill requires Congress, within 60 days after the debt limit is increased or suspended, to enact legislation eliminating rules that results in a reduction of the direct cost of federal regulation during a specified 10-fiscal-year period by at least 15% of the amount of such increase. If the debt limit is increased or suspended, each agency shall submit to the Senate, the House of Representatives, and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) a report identifying each major rule of the agency. (A major rule is defined as a rule that has or is likely to result in an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more.) GAO shall subsequently submit a report evaluating whether agencies appropriately identified major rules. Each House and Senate committee shall submit to the Committee on the Budget of its chamber a list of the major rules within the committee's jurisdiction that it recommends should be repealed. Each committee shall consider: whether the rule has been ineffective in achieving its purpose, adverse effects that could materialize if the rule is repealed, whether the costs of the rule outweigh its benefits, and whether the rule has become obsolete or overlaps with another rule. The Budget Committees shall report a joint resolution carrying out all such recommendations without substantive revision. The bill provides for the expedited consideration of such a joint resolution. A repealed rule may not be reissued in substantially the same form. If the Office of Management and Budget determines that legislation has not been enacted under this bill by the prescribed deadline, the public debt limit shall be equal to the sum of the face amount of obligations issued by the United States and the face amount of obligations whose principal and interest are guaranteed by the United States (except guaranteed obligations held by Treasury) outstanding on the date of the determination.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

What a vote does

A “Yea” vote

If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.

A “Nay” vote

If it is not passed, current law stays as it is.

PSI Sci description of the legislative step (not an opinion).

What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Reducing Excessive Government Act of 2016

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)

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The strongest published arguments

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Alternatives

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Sen. Gardner, Cory [R-CO] · 1 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Mike Lee (R-UT)

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (5)

Bill: A proposed law. It becomes law only if it passes the legislature and is signed by the president or governor (or a veto is overridden).
Joint resolution: In Texas, the type of measure the Legislature uses to propose a constitutional amendment (marked HJR or SJR). The governor does not sign or veto it; the voters decide. In Congress a joint resolution can also be used like a bill. In Florida, a joint resolution passed by three-fifths of the members of each chamber puts a constitutional amendment on the ballot.
Jurisdiction: The area or the matters a government or court has authority over.
Obligation: A binding promise by a government agency to pay money, for example by signing a contract or awarding a grant. Spending data such as USAspending.gov counts money when it is obligated, which can be before it is actually paid out.
Rulemaking: The process agencies use to write regulations that carry out laws passed by Congress or a legislature. Usually an agency publishes a proposed rule, takes public comments, then publishes a final rule.

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)
Congress.gov
Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-114s3119.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/114/s>

Record fed-us-cong114-s3119 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong114 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong114