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Part 1 of 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1268 I. INNOVATION IN ADMINISTRATIVE LAW: CHEVRON AND SKIDMORE 1276 A. Agency Innovation Under Chevron 1276 B. The Demise of Chevron in [...], The Supreme Court of the United States has generally been a very aggressive enforcer of legal limitations on governmental power. In various periods in its history, the Court has gone far beyond enforcing clearly expressed and easily ascertainable constitutional and statutory provisions and has suppressed innovation by the other branches that do not necessarily transgress widely held social norms. Novel assertions of legislative power, novel interpretations of federal statutes, statutes that are in tension with well-established common law rules, and state laws adopted by only a few states are suspect simply because they are novel or rub up against tradition. In periods of governmental innovation and assertions of expanded authority, this aggression becomes evident and perhaps more robust. In recent years, the Court has created new barriers to government innovation even as government is confronted with serious threats to the health and welfare of mankind. Chief among this new set of limitations on the power of federal administrative agencies is an interpretive device that has become known as the Major Questions Doctrine (MQD). This doctrine purports to be based on a traditional view of legislative intent and judicial role, but in reality it resonates more with conservative anti-regulatory political views. Under this new doctrine, the Court rejects agency assertions of regulatory authority when it finds that the agency's action would have major social and economic effects and lacks crystal clear congressional authorization. Ironically, because the MQD has no basis in the Administrative Procedure Act or prior law, the Court has in effect created a major new doctrine of administrative law severely limiting agency authority without clear authorization from Congress. The Court has also suppressed agency innovation by confining Chevron deference to unimportant issues of statutory construction. Chevron, for all of its faults, has the virtue of validating agency policy innovation so long as Congress had not clearly denied agency authority. This reform to Chevron, together with the creation and application of the Major Questions Doctrine, in effect accomplishes the aim of some Justices to impose a more robust nondelegation doctrine, making agency innovation even more difficult. In addition, the Court has worked to prevent innovation in other areas of law, such as agency structure, gun control, and the spending power, preventing the state and federal governments from taking action to deal with pressing social problems. The current Court has truly become an anti-innovation Court.

Part 2 of 2 B. The Spending Power and Coercion Perhaps the most striking recent example of the Court imposing its will over that of Congress is its rejection of [...]

I Introduction In the Australian federation, judicial review of both administrative and legislative action is axiomatic and fundamental to the constitutional assumption of the rule of law. But it is [...], This article focuses on a hitherto underexplored but increasingly important area of public expenditure: act of grace payments. Act of grace payments are voluntary, highly discretionary gifts of money made by the executive in the absence of any legal duty to do so. The expenditure on such payments in Australia has been significant, and a lack of transparency creates serious risks to integrity. Further, the cases of Pape v Federal Commissioner of Taxation, Williams v Commonwealth and Williams v Commonwealth [No 2] have transformed the constitutional framework for public expenditure. Accordingly, this article conducts a fine-grained analysis of the constitutional legality of act of grace payments at the Commonwealth, state and territory levels. The authors argue that there are significant constitutional issues with act of grace payments at the Commonwealth level, and that many state-based act of grace payments are likely to be illegal. To address these issues, and to reduce the risk that payments will be made illegally, the authors recommend several legislative and soft law changes.

Every couple of years, it seems, the debt limit shows up to wreak havoc in American law and public finance. By capping the face value of government securities that can be "outstanding at one time," the statutory limit regularly threatens the Treasury's ability to raise the revenue needed to fund required government spending. Brinksmanship over the limit has shut down the government, cost the country billions of dollars, and mired financial markets in uncertainty. And yet, despite its obvious and longstanding importance, the limit remains poorly understood. Commentators attribute its beginnings to 1917 and 1941, before which it is assumed that Congress itself designed each debt instrument and did so only during rare emergencies. For some, the presumed recency of the limit makes it easy to dismiss. It is regarded as a quixotic provision that can and should yield to more significant spending mandates, or a provision that is itself unlawful--at odds with the Fourteenth Amendment's cryptic command that public debts "shall not be questioned." For others, the limit is regarded as either a cataclysmic threat to the financial system, or a necessary hindrance to runaway government spending, or both. We are warned, by politicians and commentators alike, that a binding debt limit will lead to default, and the cratering of the American economy--and also that having no limit would be an "irresponsible" concession to our profligate spending instincts. But each piece of this conventional wisdom is wrong. Debt limits--authorities for the Executive Branch to borrow that come with limits attached--have existed since 1790, and flow naturally from the Constitution's reservation of the borrowing power to Congress. I provide a corrective account of those early limits and draw on public laws and Treasury borrowing records to provide an overview of the Executive Branch's borrowing authority between 1790 and 1910. That historical excavation has important doctrinal and policy implications for how we think about public finance today and helps clear the myth and confusion surrounding the debt limit. Under current doctrine, the limit is lawful. It is a form of statutory direction and commitment that was common at the ratification of both the Constitution and the Fourteenth Amendment. The limit is binding. When the limit conflicts with spending provisions, longstanding practice suggests that it is spending--and not the limit--that must yield. And, finally, the implications of the modern limit remain woefully misunderstood. There is no good reason to think that default follows from a binding limit: tax revenue is more than sufficient to cover debt service. But there is excellent reason to think that the modern limit has become so divorced from its original appropriations purpose--which was to make spending cheaper, not harder--that the case for reform is ripe., Table of Contents I. THE STRUCTURE AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE LIMIT A. How to Conceptualize Debt Limits B. Why Constitutionalize and Limit Borrowing? C. Debt Limits Before 1917 1. The [...]

Problem Hearing rehabilitation with hearing aids is a complex process which requires professional expertise and the involvement of audiologists or hearing-care specialists. Professional care, however, requires extra resources, making it tempting to rely solely on technology and reduce the role of professional counselling. Approach To reduce the out-of-pocket share for adults needing hearing rehabilitation, in 2011 the Israeli government tripled the subsidy for adult hearing aids by converting 3 years of subsidies into a triennial, enlarged fund. Regulations for providing hearing rehabilitation and a set of rules for tenders for the supply of hearing aids were issued. Local setting Auditory diagnosis and rehabilitation are included in the Israeli national health insurance system. Before 2011, the annual government-funded subsidy for hearing aids was negligible; hearing aids were expensive and bought mostly with patients' own resources. Relevant changes A series of tenders for companies to supply hearing aids, aiming to control public and individual expenses, resulted in a large reduction in prices, which in turn raised the demand for hearing aids and increased public expenditure. As the price of hearing aids fell markedly, hearing rehabilitation is approaching a point of becoming limited to supplying hearing devices, while reducing the importance placed on professional elements of the rehabilitation course. Lessons learnt Lowering out-of-pocket costs for patients should not be the only consideration in hearing rehabilitation. Our goal should be to control public expenditure but also provide affordable hearing aids with sufficient intervention of hearing-care specialists, to ensure access to advanced technologies and proper professional care. Probleme La readaptation a l'aide d'appareils auditifs est un processus complexe qui fait appel a l'expertise de professionnels et implique des audiologistes ou specialistes de l'audition. Assurer une prise en charge adequate necessite toutefois des ressources supplementaires; la tentation est donc grande de se fier uniquement a la technologie et de limiter le role de l'accompagnement professionnel. Approche En vue de reduire les depenses directes des adultes ayant besoin d'une readaptation auditive, le gouvernement israelien a decide, en 2011, de tripler la subvention octroyee aux appareils auditifs pour adultes, transformant trois ans de subsides en fonds triennal elargi. Des lois relatives aux services de readaptation auditive ont ete adoptees, ainsi qu'un ensemble de regles regissant les appels d'offres pour la fourniture d'appareils auditifs. Environnement local En Israel, le diagnostic auditif et la readaptation qui en decoule font partie du regime national d'assurance-maladie. Avant 2011, le montant de la subvention annuelle financee par le gouvernement etait negligeable; les appareils auditifs, couteux, etaient generalement payes par les patients eux-memes. Changements significatifs Une serie d'appels d'offres ont ete lances aupres d'entreprises afin d'acquerir des protheses auditives tout en gardant le controle sur les depenses publiques et individuelles. Resultat: une forte diminution des prix qui, a son tour, a entraine une augmentation de la demande en appareils auditifs et des depenses publiques. Avec la chute du prix des appareils auditifs, la readaptation se borne de plus en plus a la distribution de dispositifs d'aide a l'audition, negligeant l'importance censee etre accordee a l'aspect professionnel du processus. Lecons tirees Reduire les depenses directes pour les patients n'est pas le seul element a prendre en consideration lorsqu'il s'agit de readaptation auditive. Notre objectif devrait etre de controler les depenses publiques, mais aussi de proposer des appareils auditifs abordables assortis d'une intervention suffisante de la part des specialistes de l'audition, afin de garantir l'acces a des technologies de pointe et des soins professionnels appropries. Situacion La rehabilitacion auditiva con audifonos es un proceso complejo que requiere conocimientos profesionales y la participacion de los audiologos o especialistas en atencion auditiva. Sin embargo, la atencion profesional requiere recursos adicionales, por lo que resulta tentador confiar unicamente en la tecnologia y limitar los servicios de asesoramiento profesional. Enfoque Para reducir la cuota de desembolso de los adultos que necesitan rehabilitacion auditiva, en 2011 el gobierno israeli triplico la subvencion de los audifonos para adultos convirtiendo 3 anos de subvenciones en un fondo trienal ampliado. Se publicaron reglamentos para proporcionar rehabilitacion auditiva y un conjunto de normas para las licitaciones relacionadas con el suministro de audifonos. Marco regional El diagnostico y la rehabilitacion auditiva estan incluidos en el sistema nacional de seguros de salud israeli. Antes de 2011, la subvencion anual que financiaba el gobierno para los audifonos era insignificante; los audifonos eran caros y se compraban en su mayoria con recursos propios de los pacientes. Cambios importantes Gracias a una serie de licitaciones de empresas para el suministro de audifonos, con el fin de controlar los gastos publicos e individuales, se produjo una gran reduccion de los precios, lo que a su vez aumento la demanda de audifonos y el gasto publico. Como el precio de los audifonos bajo de forma notable, la rehabilitacion auditiva se esta acercando a un punto en el que se limita a suministrar dispositivos auditivos, al tiempo que se reduce la importancia de los factores profesionales del tratamiento de rehabilitacion. Lecciones aprendidas La reduccion de los gastos de bolsillo de los pacientes no deberia ser el unico aspecto a tener en cuenta en la rehabilitacion auditiva. Nuestro objetivo debe ser controlar el gasto publico, pero tambien proporcionar audifonos asequibles con una intervencion suficiente de especialistas en audicion, para garantizar el acceso a tecnologias avanzadas y a una atencion profesional adecuada., Introduction The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 466 million persons (more than 6.1% of the world's population) live with disabling hearing loss. (1) The prevalence of hearing loss increases [...]

Many areas in applied econometric research within political economy fail to come up with conclusive findings. This is the case, for example, with studies on the determinants of public social spending in Latin America, a key area of research given the impact of social programs on poverty, inequality, and welfare more generally. In this area, as in others, it is hard to identify clear answers regarding the impact of economic processes and political institutions. Two reasons explain this lack of knowledge accumulation. First, each study uses different data sources and analytical models. Second, some of the empirical strategies required to solve various econometric problems may affect the results. This article questions the role of econometric research as the only method to explore political economy questions and highlights the importance of promoting conversations between complementary methods of both quantitative and qualitative traditions. Keywords: public social spending; Latin America; research methods; social policy Buena parte de la investigacion econometrica dentro de la economia politica no obtiene resultados conclusivos. Este es, por ejemplo, el caso de los estudios sobre los determinantes del gasto social en America Latina, un area importante de investigation dado el impacto de los programas sociales en la pobreza, la desigualdad y, mas en general, el bienestar. En este campo, como en otros, es dificil identificar respuestas definitivas sobre al impacto de los procesos economicos y las instituciones politicas. Hay dos razones principales que explican esta falta de acumulacion de conocimiento en este caso. Primero, cada estudio utilizada fuentes estadisticas y modelos analiticos distintos. Segundo, algunas de las estrategias empiricas adoptadas para resolver distintos problemas econometricos pueden afectar a los resultados. Asi, nuestro analisis cuestiona el papel de la econometria como el metodo unico para explorar preguntas de economia politica y muestra la importancia de promover conversaciones entre metodos cualitativos y cuantitativos complementarios. Palabras claves: gasto publico social; America Latina; metodos de investigation; politica social, Econometrics occupies an influential place in the study of political economy. Common arguments put forward are that econometrics is more rigorous than qualitative approaches, uses 'objective' data, and yields clearer, [...]

INTRODUCTION 128 I. THE CONSTITUTIONALLY CRITICAL ROLE OF CONGRESSIONAL OVERSICHT 135 A. Why Oversight Is Important 135 B. Congress's Constitutional and Statutory Powers of Oversight 139 C. Executive Privilege 143 [...], Congress has a constitutionally critical duty to gather information about how the executive branch implements the powers Congress has granted it and the funds Congress has appropriated. Yet in recent years the executive branch has systematically thwarted Congress's powers and duties of oversight. Congressional subpoenas for testimony and documents have met with blanket refusals to comply, frequently backed by advice from the Department of Justice that executive privilege justifies withholding the information. Even when Congress holds an official in contempt for failure to comply with a congressional subpoena, the Department of Justice often does not initiate criminal sanctions. As a result, Congress has resorted to enforcing its subpoenas in civil litigation, with terrible results. Civil enforcement, if any, occurs years after the information was sought, practically eliminating the information's practical and political value. Changes in administrations can be expected to affect the willingness of the executive branch to thwart congressional oversight, but the problem will remain until systemic reforms discourage the most egregious forms of executive evasion. To overcome this reliance on judicial enforcement of its oversight powers, Congress needs to think more creatively and aggressively. One way of doing so, which we. defend in this Article, is using Congress's powers of the purse to condition funding to agencies on their compliance with congressional oversight requests, employing what we call oversight riders. By denying funding to executive agencies' resistance to oversight, Congress can create personal legal incentives for executive branch officials to comply. The Article concludes by considering whether other underenforced regimes, including requirements addressing political activity, ethics, and transparency, might also be protected by similar riders.