For Obama Supporters, Time to Call In Favors

The Chamber has compiled its own long list of regulatory initiatives it will oppose in the Obama administration. It includes expansion of a law giving workers notice of plant closings and additions to family and medical leave rules.

Some interest groups are looking forward and back, seeking to advance their goals while getting the Obama team to reverse last-minute rules issued by the Bush administration.

Steffany Stern, policy analyst with the National Partnership for Women & Families in Washington, a nonprofit group involved in workplace issues, said supporters of family leave seek to expand the program to cover more workers, include new types of leave, add covered family members and, for the first time, provide paid leave. The group also wants parts of the new Bush rule changed.

One collection of public-interest groups issued a report suggesting that the new president "give significant attention to fixing the regulatory process." That includes naming a blue-ribbon commission to examine how to make it more efficient and not allowing extensive involvement by the White House in rulemaking and the review of rules, as was the practice under Bush.

"The current regulatory system is largely dysfunctional," said Gary Bass, executive director of OMB Watch, a Washington nonprofit that monitors executive-branch policy and that initiated the project.

The Center for Progressive Reform proposed seven executive orders, including one to require that children's risk from chemical exposure be measured in rulemakings, and that federal rules not be used to preempt victims' rights to sue under state laws.

In releasing its agenda a week after the election, the center said the executive orders would "send a clear message that a new sheriff is in town."

Cindy Skrzycki is a regulatory columnist with Bloomberg News. She can be reached at cskrzycki@bloomberg.net.