Reagan's Executive Order Research Articles

Moderating Local Capacity: Exploring EO 12372's Intergovernmental Review Effects on Federal Grant Awards

This article asks whether the Reagan Executive Order (EO) 12372 matters for intergovernmental fiscal relations today. To address this question, federal grant receipts from programs that are, and programs that are not, covered by EO 12372 are compared by examining the differential effects of political and local administrative capacity on each. Grant receipts are examined by coding federal grant award data from 1993 to 2003 using Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance reference numbers. In the case state, Kentucky, Area Development Districts are the regional functionaries for the state single point of contact clearinghouse, by virtue of which status they review proposals for federal funding originating in, or affecting, their districts. Since federal award decisions take clearinghouse information into account on grant programs covered by EO 12372, differences in the effects of local capacity on receipt of grants covered and not covered by the EO are expected. Methodology used in this post‐only analysis is pooled cross‐sectional time series analysis with panel corrected standard errors. Results focus attention on the differential effects of government administrative and political capacity as they apply to federal grants covered, and not covered, by the EO.

Executive order no. 13,233: A threat to government accountability

Abstract Public access to the presidential records covered under the Presidential Records Act of 1978 (PRA) has been restricted by the implementation of George W. Bush's Executive Order 13,233. This article examines the original intent and scope of the PRA, how Ronald Reagan's Executive Order 12,667 began the modification of the PRA with regards to claims of executive privilege, and how Bush's Executive Order 13,233, if left unchallenged, will create further significant alterations to the PRA. The article explores the controversies surrounding the signing of Executive Order 13,233, investigates the key issues raised by critics, and analyzes the long-term implications to government accountability and the accessibility of public records covered by the PRA.

Regulatory Reform: Assessing the Government's Numbers

This paper provides the most comprehensive assessment to date of the costs and benefits of federal regulatory activities. The assessment, based on the government's own numbers, shows that the net benefits for final regulations promulgated from 1981 to mid-1996 approach a net present value of $1.6 trillion. The analysis also shows that the government can significantly increase the net benefits of regulation. Less than half of final regulations pass a neutral economist's benefit-cost test. Net benefits could increase by approximately $280 billion if agencies rejected such regulations. Net benefits could also increase if agencies replace existing regulations with more efficient alternatives, or if agencies substantially improve regulatory programs. The efficiency of official regulations varies by agency and by the type of risk the regulation is designed to reduce. Regulations from the Department of Transportation comprise over half of the total net benefits of final regulations, although they account for less than 10% of all regulations. The net benefits of regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency account for only a third of total net benefits, primarily because of 19 Clean Air Act regulations with high net benefits, although two-thirds of all regulations are EPA regulations. On average, regulations that reduce cancer risk are less efficient than other social regulations, and EPA cancer regulations appear less efficient than other cancer regulations. Regulations that reduce the risk of car, fire, or work-related accidents are generally more efficient than regulations that reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease. The study also shows that the efficiency of regulations ha not declined over time, as some scholars suggest. Furthermore, the introduction of formal regulatory oversight by the OMB does not appear to influence the cost-effectiveness of regulations. The paper shows that agency compliance with regulatory impact analysis requirements in Reagan's Executive Order 12291 and Clinton's Executive Order 12866, the basis for agency estimates of the costs and benefits or regulation, is usually superficial. As a result, the quality of such analyses is generally poor. Partly because of the poor quality of analyses, it appears that agencies do not often use the analyses to improve regulatory outcomes. If Congress and the White House are serious about regulatory reform, they must cooperate to enforce the regulatory impact analyses requirement. Successful enforcement requires high-level political support, statutory language requiring all agencies to adhere to established principles of economic analysis, and rigorous review of agency analyses by an independent entity. At this time, it is unclear whether law makes are willing to exert the political muscle necessary to achieve real reform.

Employee Drug Testing: Are Cities Complying with the Courts?

Testing for controlled substances, a common practice in the work environment in both private and public sectors, remains a frustrating and emotionally charged issue. While endorsing pre-employment testing and suspicion-based testing, numerous public and private sector unions, civil rights activists, labor law attorneys, and private citizens vigorously oppose random testing of public employees as an unjust invasion of privacy and have taken their cases to the courts and to the bargaining table. However, advocates for public sector employees are confronted with intense societal pressures to implement and expand drug testing on a massive scale in the workplace. Employee representatives oppose unlimited testing and demand that government agencies adopt rules and procedures to guarantee constitutional protections; establish a need to seize an employee's body fluids; provide treatment, rehabilitation, and counseling, as well as meet the standard of probable cause that an employee is impaired in the performance of her or his duties by the use of alcohol or controlled substances. The primary purpose of this research is to answer two questions. First, to what degree do all drug-testing policies and programs comply with privacy protections ordered by the U.S. Supreme Court. That is, whether municipal government employers are implementing substance-abuse testing policies and procedures that guarantee employees protection from unconstitutional invasion of privacy, unlawful search and seizure, self-incrimination, or loss of legally recognized employment rights. Second, what are the ramifications of noncompliance with court guidelines to legally agreed-upon employment rights in those same municipalities? In this article, we summarize the history of drug testing in the workplace, analyze the current status of precedent-setting case law on the subject, assess its implications, and conclude with survey results of nationwide municipal drug-testing programs and the significance of these policy survey results. Finally, we propose an agenda for further research. Historical Perspective Substance-abuse testing in the government workplace has been a concern since President Reagan's Executive Order 12564 (1986) drew national attention to the issue. That executive order allowed drug testing of federal employees even though no substantiated proof of widespread drug abuse had been found among federal workers (Green, 1992). In 1988, the Drug-free Workplace Act required federal contractors to establish a drug-free workplace awareness program. Subsequently, federal agencies issued a variety of regulations mandating random testing of contract workers in positions related to public safety or national security (Green, 1992). State and local governments, although not required by the Drug-free Workplace Act, promulgated regulations and policies establishing not only an awareness program but also substance abuse testing of employees, which included random drug testing (Green, 1991). The reaction to the federal government's carrot and stick coercion of local governments into random drug testing continues to be vociferous by numerous unions, civil rights advocates, labor law attorneys, and private citizens who joined forces in protesting these policies as an unjust invasion of worker privacy rights. Although a variety of arguments pro and con exist regarding such testing (Redeker and Segal, 1989a), most seem to focus on one specific question: Is random drug testing an unconstitutional invasion of an employee's `zone of privacy' as defined by the Court and thus, a possible tool for employee oppression (Griswold v. Connecticut, 1965)? A lack of substantial lower case law on random drug testing for public employees continues to make it one of the most controversial issues faced by employers and employees. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Union (AFSCME) feels so strongly concerning the issue of random drug testing in the public sector that it emphasizes the issue at conferences and repeatedly states its opposition to random drug testing, AFSCME also demands collective bargaining on drug testing, probable cause requirements, due process, and the right to privacy (Walters, 1989). …

Probing the Legal-Economic Nexus: Takings, 1978-1988

In his book Legal Foundations of Capitalism [1924], John R. Commons traces the evolution of the legal concept of property in America, in response to the transformation of the economic system, from the recognition of physical property only to the recognition of both physical and intangible property. From there he analyzes the effects of this evolution on the institutional structure of, and relations within, society. This legal-economic nexus-the idea that economy is a function of law and law is a function of economy-illustrated by Commons and more recently elaborated on by Warren J. Samuels [1989], is fundamental to an institutionalist law and economics. Over the past 15 years, several prominent Supreme Court cases have dealt with government regulatory takings of private property.1 One result of this string of cases has been the development of a fairly well-defined set of criteria for what constitutes a taking of private property. Furthermore, these cases led to President Reagan's Executive Order 12630: Government Actions and Interference with Constitutionally Protected Property Rights [1988], which intemalizes much of the recent takings jurisprudence to the government's regulatory process. By examining these matters through the lens of the legal-economic nexus, we see that conflict between economic interests is resolved through

Guidelines for Drug Abuse Testing Labs

Guidelines to help organizations choose and monitor a drug testing laboratory have been adopted by the American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC). The group's goal is to help employers establish accurate and reliable programs for detecting drug abuse. The National Institute on Drug Abuse also has written guidelines for drug testing. Those guidelines—prepared in response to President Reagan's executive order issued last fall that all federal employees in sensitive jobs be screened for drug abuse—will apply only to federal employees. The federal guidelines are being reviewed within the Department of Health & Human Services and, once approved, will be published in the Federal Register. The potential for error and fraud in testing employees for illicit drug use was underscored recently by the conviction of a scientist who was found to have falsified test results (C&EN, June 29, page 19). AACC thinks such situations can be avoided if the testing laboratory is carefully selected and ...

Review: Fugitive Industry: The Economics and Politics of Deindustrialization, the New Reality of Municipal Finance: The Rise and Fall of the Intergovernmental City, Shop Floor Bargaining and the State: Historical and Comparative Perspectives, the Politics of Mental Health, Regional Development. Problems and Policies in Eastern and Western Europe, Housing Economics: An Applied Approach, Environmental Policy under Reagan's Executive Order: The

Review: Fugitive Industry: The Economics and Politics of Deindustrialization, the New Reality of Municipal Finance: The Rise and Fall of the Intergovernmental City, Shop Floor Bargaining and the State: Historical and Comparative Perspectives, the Politics of Mental Health, Regional Development. Problems and Policies in Eastern and Western Europe, Housing Economics: An Applied Approach, Environmental Policy under Reagan's Executive Order: The

Environmental Policy Under Reagan's Executive Order: The Role of Benefit-Cost Analysis. Edited by V. Kerry Smith

<i>Environmental Policy Under Reagan's Executive Order: The Role of Benefit-Cost Analysis</i>. Edited by V. Kerry Smith

Environmental Policy Under Reagan's Executive Order: The Role of Cost-Benefit Analysis. Edited by V. Kerry Smith. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1984. Pp. xii + 266. $25.00.)

Environmental Policy Under Reagan's Executive Order: The Role of Cost-Benefit Analysis. Edited by V. Kerry Smith. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1984. Pp. xii + 266. $25.00.)

Environmental Policy Under Reagan's Executive Order: The Role of Benefit- Cost Analysis.V. Kerry Smith

<i>Environmental Policy Under Reagan's Executive Order: The Role of Benefit- Cost Analysis.</i>V. Kerry Smith

Environmental Policy under Reagan's Executive Order

Environmental Policy under Reagan's Executive Order

Environmental Policy under Reagan's Executive Order: The Role of Benefit-Cost Analysis

For the first time, a formal benefit-cost requirement plays an integral role in U.S. environmental policymaking, and in this volume, some of the nation's leading experts on environmental policy appraise the effects of President Reagan's Executive Order No. 12291. By considering how the Environmental Protection Agency has responded to 12291, these essays identify the limitations of conventional practices of benefit-cost analysis.Originally published in 1984.A UNC Press Enduring Edition -- UNC Press Enduring Editions use the latest in digital technology to make available again books from our distinguished backlist that were previously out of print. These editions are published unaltered from the original, and are presented in affordable paperback formats, bringing readers both historical and cultural value.