2017: Fitzpatrick Voted To Exempt Regulations Related To Whistleblower
Protections From The SCRUB Act, Which Would Require Agencies To
Eliminate Old Rules In Order To Create New Ones. In March 2017,
Fitzpatrick voted for an amendment that would have, according to
Congressional Quarterly, "exempt[ed] from the bill's provisions rules
related to whistleblower protections and rules related to penalties for
retaliation against whistleblowers." The underlying legislation, also
according to Congressional Quarterly, "establish[ed] a nine-member
commission to review existing federal regulations and identify
regulations that should be repealed on the basis of reducing costs on
the U.S. economy. The commission would identify those regulatory
policies that should be repealed immediately, and would set up a
'Cut-Go' system that would require agencies to repeal existing rules to
offset costs before issuing a new rule. The measure, as amended, would
require the commission to review a rule or regulation's unfunded
mandate, whether the rule or regulation limits or prevents government
agencies from adopting technology to improve efficiency, and the rule or
regulation's impact on wage growth, when determining if the rule or
regulation should be repealed." The vote was on the amendment. The House
rejected the amendment by a vote of 194 to 231. [House Vote 112,
3/1/17; Congressional
Quarterly, 3/1/17; Congressional
Quarterly, 1/7/16; Congressional
Actions, H. Amdt.
56;
Congressional Actions, H.R.
998]