Violates the Requirements for Negotiated Rulemaking
As ED itself acknowledges, “The Department is specifically required by law to use negotiated rulemaking to develop NPRMs for programs authorized under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (Title IV programs) unless the Secretary determines that doing so is impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest.” They further write that “Under negotiated rulemaking, the Department works to develop an NPRM in collaboration with representatives of the parties who will be affected significantly by the regulations.”
In the proposed regulations, the Department notes that there would be “significant effects on borrowers, the Department, and taxpayers.” Yet the rulemaking committee did not include anyone representing the views and interests of taxpayers.
The complete absence of a taxpayer perspective violates the requirements of negotiated rulemaking. Negotiated rulemaking requires “representatives of the parties who will be affected significantly by the regulations” and ED acknowledges that these regulations would lead to “significant effects” for taxpayers, and yet taxpayers did not have representation on the negotiating committee.
