November 30, 2011 U.S. House of Representatives Washington, D.C.

20515 Dear Representative: On behalf of Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), a national association with 75 chapters representing more than 23,000 merit shop construction and construction-related firms with nearly two million employees, I am writing to express our strong support for the Regulatory Accountability Act of 2011 (H.R. 3010) and the Regulatory Flexibility and Improvements Act of 2011 (H.R. 527). We urge you to support these regulatory reform efforts and will consider these as Key Votes for our 112th Congressional scorecard. As builders of our communities and infrastructure, ABC members understand the value of standards and regulations based on solid evidence, with appropriate consideration paid to implementation costs and input from affected businesses. ABC strongly supports comprehensive regulatory reform, which includes acrossthe-board requirements for departments and agencies to appropriately evaluate risks, weigh costs and assess the benefits of all regulations. We believe H.R. 3010 and H.R. 527 will create greater accountability and transparency within the regulatory and rulemaking process. Today, federal regulatory agencies wield incredible power through rulemaking. They have grown adept at using procedural loopholes to accomplish narrowly focused goals. Agencies operate relatively unchecked and unsupervised, especially during the early stages of the regulatory process. They often disregard and circumvent the will of Congress and the American public by issuing regulations with poor or incomplete economic cost-benefit forecasting or other data analysis, instead of using the best and most accurate data that could have created more practical and sustainable rules and regulations. This results in crippling costs for companies affected by regulations that have limited or questionable benefit and no serious consideration for more practical alternatives. For the construction industry, these regulations routinely translate into higher costs that are passed along to the consumer. Ultimately, these costs impact our industrys recovery and our businesses ability to expand and hire more workers. It is particularly alarming that small businesses, which comprise the vast majority of the industry, are disproportionately affected by this irresponsible approach to regulation.

At a time when the construction industry faces an unemployment rate greater than 13 percent and the need to create jobs is imperative, so is the need for regulatory reform. We urge you to support H.R. 3010 and H.R. 527 and will consider these as Key Votes for our 112th Congressional scorecard. Sincerely,

Geoff Burr Vice-President, Federal Affairs Associated Builders & Contractors, Inc.