News release: “Some agencies under the Obama administration have energetically laid out a clear rulemaking agenda, while others have been stymied by a variety of factors, according to a new OMB Watch report. The report, The Obama Approach to Public Protection: Rulemaking, was released [September 20, 2010] and evaluates the regulatory activity of several environmental, worker safety, and consumer protection agencies within the federal government. The Obama administration’s rulemaking record reflects a philosophical change from the Bush administration: agencies are more proactive and clearly recognize government’s responsibility to protect the public, the report says. At the same time, the administration has fallen short of the high expectations set for it, both in addressing public need through regulation and in changing the cumbersome rulemaking process. The report asserts that the Obama administration has begun to restore agency resources and leadership. However, rebuilding the agencies will take years due to the toll of neglect stemming from eight years of an anti-regulatory philosophy.”