For the past three years, Congress has passed an appropriations rider mandating that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) conduct a cumulative cost-benefit analysis for the entire regulatory system. The House passed legislation on July 26 that would require the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) -- with the help of the agencies -- to conduct a cumulative cost-benefit analysis of the entire regulatory system. However, with 157 voting against the measure, there would be enough votes to sustain the expected veto should it get to the president's desk. Prior to the vote, the Administration issued its position on the bill (H.R. 1074), stating, "The increased burden that this would place on the agencies would crowd out other priorities and would add little value in many cases." The Senate Governmental Affairs Committee had scheduled a markup for its version (S. 59) of the legislation on Tuesday (8/3), but did not have enough senators present to vote it out of committee. There was some discussion of the bill, however, in which both Sens. Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) and Carl Levin (D-MI) voiced their opposition. Click here for OMB Watch's testimony on regulatory accounting.