(The Center Square) – Wisconsin’s largest business group says the U.S. Supreme Court delivered a victory for businesses in the state.
Wisconsin Manufacturing & Commerce said the decision that struck down the Chevron doctrine means businesses will now be free from overly harsh federal regulation.
“The decision will rightfully return lawmaking to the elected representatives in Congress, instead of leaving it in the hands of unaccountable bureaucrats.” WMC President & CEO Kurt Bauer said.
The Supreme Court ruled courts do not have to defer to federal agencies when deciding cases about federal law and federal regulation.
Known as the Chevron doctrine, courts were told to listen to the “expertise” of federal agencies in dealing with everything from the Clean Air Act to more recently COVID and public health orders.
Bauer said businesses across Wisconsin should see more freedom and flexibility going forward.
“This is an important corrective step to rein in the suffocating effect of the regulatory state on Wisconsin businesses,” Bauer said. “However, employers still feel like they are swimming upstream because the average business faces nearly $13,000 in additional costs each year per employee just to comply with federal regulations, according to a National Association of Manufacturers report.”
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the court’s opinion that “Administrative Procedures Act requires courts to exercise independent judgment.”
“Courts, after all, routinely confront statutory ambiguities in cases having nothing to do with Chevron — cases that do not involve agency interpretations or delegations of authority,” Roberts wrote. “Of course, when faced with a statutory ambiguity in such a case, the ambiguity is not a delegation to anybody, and a court is not somehow relieved of its obligation to independently interpret the statute.”
Bauer said while the decision is a first step toward rolling back the administrative state, there is a lot of work left to do.
“Altogether, U.S. employers are on the hook for $3.079 trillion each year due to the mountain of red tape coming out of Washington, D.C. ,” Bauer said.
