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Scott Rasmussen's Number of the Day for October 12, 2017
The Number of the Day columns published on Ballotpedia reflect the views of the author.
October 12, 2017: As of September 30, the Federal Register for this year totaled 45,678 pages. That reflects a 32 percent decline from the comparable time frame during President Barack Obama’s final year in office. (Last year’s total through September was 67,900 pages.)
The Federal Register is a daily government publication listing proposed and finalized rules and regulations. It has often been used as a rough measure for the extent of regulatory activity. Ballotpedia is tracking the updates on a weekly basis as part of a larger study on the Administrative State.
The Trump administration has implemented 2,183 new rules so far in 2017. That’s down from the 2,686 rules implemented by the Obama administration in the first nine months of 2016.[1] Some of the Trump administration rules eliminated rules from the Obama administration, so the actual gap in new rules may be even larger.
The government classifies regulations that have more than $100 million of impact as “significant rules.” The Trump administration has issued 116 such rules compared with 274 by the Obama administration in the first nine months of 2016. The current administration also has far fewer proposed rules in the pipeline.[1]
An earlier Number of the Day noted that eight years of Obama administration regulations added an annual cost to the economy of $122 billion.
However, the number and impact of federal regulations have been growing since the 1970s. There are currently 283,996 employees at federal regulatory agencies. Those agencies now have a budget of $70 billion annually. After adjusting for inflation, regulatory spending is nine times as high today as it was in 1970.
Each weekday, Scott Rasmussen’s Number of the Day explores interesting and newsworthy topics at the intersection of culture, politics, and technology.
- October 11, 2017 – 48 percent of Americans say right to own guns is essential to freedom
- October 10, 2017 – 1.5 million workers temporarily displaced from jobs by hurricanes
- October 9, 2017 – 46 percent of workers know someone who lied on a resume
- October 6, 2017 – 63% of U.S. gun deaths are suicides
- October 5, 2017 – 28% of women earn more than their husband/partner
- To see other recent numbers, check out the archive.
Scott Rasmussen’s Number of the Day is published by Ballotpedia weekdays at 8:00 a.m. Eastern. Click here to check out the latest update.
The Number of the Day is broadcast on local stations across the country. An archive of these broadcasts can be found here.
Columns published on Ballotpedia reflect the views of the author.
Ballotpedia is the nonprofit, nonpartisan Encyclopedia of American Politics.
See also
- Scott Rasmussen's Number of the Day
- Changes to the Federal Register
- Ballotpedia's administrative state coverage
Footnotes
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