U.S. Reps. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO) and Ted Budd (R-NC) introduced legislation that seeks to bring more accountability to the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB).
The Responsible Accounting Standards Act (H.R. 9315) would require the FASB to adopt similar procedures to the Administrative Procedures Act, which governs how government agencies must proceed in the rulemaking process. The bill would also require FASB to conduct a cost-benefit analysis on accounting standards to determine how they will impact “the efficient functioning of the economy and private markets, and the cost of businesses complying with the action.”
“Accounting principles impact every single American business and their employees. FASB’s wide-ranging power should require commonsense oversight and analysis. This bill ensures the effects on the American economy are studied and considered in every standard FASB puts into place,” Luetkemeyer said.
Further, the legislation would require the head of the FASB to testify in front of Congress every year.
“The unaccountable bureaucracy of FASB desperately needs basic Congressional oversight over its massive impact to our financial sector and the wider economy. The Responsible Accounting Standards Act will be a positive step forward in the cause of good governance,” Budd said.