Press Releases
03/31/2020
Attorney General Tong Joins Call for Federal Government to Prioritize COVID-Related Rulemaking and Freeze Non-Urgent Rules
States, Businesses and Individuals Focused on Public Health Emergency Have Little Time to Respond to Non-urgent Federal Rules, Which May Have Unintended Effects Due to COVID-19
Hartford, CT) – Attorney General William Tong joined a coalition of 21 attorneys general in calling on the Trump Administration to suspend non-COVID-19 related rulemaking to allow all parties to focus their full attention on the public health crisis.
In a letter today to the Acting Director of the federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the attorneys general note that state and local governments across the nation remain focused on responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and combating spread of the deadly novel coronavirus. “Life in our communities has been upended by the need to maintain social distancing,” the letter states.
Against that backdrop, the letter urges the federal government to halt most non-COVID-related rulemaking processes. It also asks the Administration to consider reopening certain already-closed rule comment periods “at an appropriate time and for an appropriate duration.” The reopened comment periods would allow federal agencies to receive new input from state and local governments, businesses and others impacted by the COVID-19 crisis, including input on the pandemic’s economic effect.
“A public health crisis is not an open door to expedite regulatory reforms. The Trump Administration has pushed rulemaking processes that have the potential to dramatically reshape our government and our lives, and they must not advance without public participation and oversight. I urge the Trump Administration to pause all non-COVID-19 related rulemaking to allow all parties to focus their full attention on the public health crisis,” said Attorney General Tong.
Among the rule proposals that could be postponed if the federal government were to prioritize rulemaking related to COVID-19 are proposals that would eliminate or roll back protections against predatory lending, housing discrimination, sexual harassment and violence in education, and discrimination against LGBTQ+ individuals in federally funded programs. Other proposals that could be delayed—including cutbacks in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or food stamps—would affect far more Americans today than when they were originally proposed because of the recent economic downturn.
Beyond calling on the federal government to dedicate itself to rules related to COVID-19, the attorneys general call for a general freeze on all new and pending rules other than those that address emergency situations or other urgent circumstances relating to health, safety, financial, or national security matters, or that are required by statutory or judicial deadlines.
The Trump Administration adopted the same kind of freeze on the President’s first day in office, the letter notes.
The letter goes on to observe that federal agencies already have taken some steps to prioritize resources to focus on COVID-19, and that some federal agencies have already extended rulemaking comment periods in response to the pandemic.
The letter concludes by noting that the requested freeze is important to ensure the federal government does not take rulemaking steps that would call for action by state or local governments, businesses, other organizations and the public at a time when their “ability to meet and communicate with each other has been limited” by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Today’s letter is led by New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal. In addition to Attorney General Tong, attorneys general for the Colorado, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Virginia.
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