American Consumer Institute

State-by-state food ingredient laws are creating a costly regulatory patchwork that could raise grocery prices, reduce consumer choice, and complicate interstate commerce. The FRESH Act of 2026 would establish a uniform federal framework for ingredient oversight while preempting conflicting state rules. That’s a meaningful step toward reducing compliance burdens and protecting consumers from higher costs caused by 50 different food-rule regimes. At the same time, the bill should avoid replacing state overreach with unnecessary federal bottlenecks. Oversight should focus on evidence, transparency, and real risk—not politics or paperwork for its own sake. A smarter national standard can protect both food safety and affordability. Read more by @JustinLeventhal here: theamericanconsumer.org/2026/05/the-fr…

The ESA Amendments Act of 2025 would strengthen collaboration between federal agencies, states, local governments, and private landowners — recognizing that conservation solutions work best when informed by local expertise. The legislation also aims to reduce excessive litigation, improve scientific transparency, and shift resources toward actual species recovery instead of procedural disputes. A modernized ESA should deliver results for both species conservation and project certainty. Read more here: theamericanconsumer.org/2026/05/the-ec…

The Endangered Species Act was designed to protect wildlife — but after 50 years, only 3% of listed species have recovered. Meanwhile, infrastructure and land management projects face mounting delays, litigation, and rising costs. The ESA Amendments Act of 2025 would refocus the law on measurable species recovery, stronger scientific standards, and greater transparency in agency decision-making. Modernizing ESA implementation can support both conservation and responsible development.

Consumers benefit from safe, affordable food—not from 50 conflicting state regulatory regimes governing the same ingredients. Yet across the country, states are increasingly adopting their own food-additive bans, warning-label mandates, school-food restrictions, and disclosure requirements. The result is a growing compliance maze that could force manufacturers to reformulate products, redesign labels, maintain separate inventories, or leave smaller markets entirely. Those costs ultimately show up in grocery prices and reduced consumer choice. The FDA Review and Evaluation for Safe, Healthy (FRESH) and Affordable Foods Act of 2026 is an attempt to address that problem by replacing the emerging state-by-state patchwork with a uniform federal framework. The bill would strengthen oversight of food ingredients, formalize portions of the GRAS process, establish post-market review mechanisms, and preempt certain state ingredient regulations affecting interstate commerce. Its strongest feature is national uniformity. A single federal standard would reduce uncertainty, simplify compliance, and preserve the efficiencies of a national food market. The bill also moves in the right direction by emphasizing post-market review over blanket premarket restrictions, allowing regulators to respond when credible evidence of harm emerges without unnecessarily blocking market access. Still, the legislation could be improved further. Greater federal oversight should not become centralized overregulation. GRAS notification requirements should remain predictable and evidence-based, third-party review standards should be transparent, and long-established low-risk ingredients should not face unnecessary new barriers absent credible safety concerns. The broader issue is straightforward: fragmented regulation increases costs for consumers. A balanced national framework can help protect food safety while also preserving affordability, competition, and consumer choice.

Consumers need safe, affordable food. A growing patchwork of state bans, warning labels, and ingredient mandates risks higher grocery prices, fewer choices, and costly compliance chaos. A uniform national standard can protect safety, preserve consumer choice, and keep food costs down while relying on evidence-based oversight instead of political patchworks. #ConsumerPolicy #FRESHAct

The growing patchwork of state food-additive laws threatens to increase grocery costs, reduce product availability, and create confusion for consumers and manufacturers alike. The FRESH Act aims to solve that problem by creating a single national standard for food ingredient oversight and limiting conflicting state regulations. National uniformity would help preserve economies of scale, reduce compliance costs, and make it easier for companies to sell the same products nationwide. The bill also includes reforms to the GRAS process, expanded post-market review authority, and pathways for third-party scientific review. While these changes could improve transparency and consistency, lawmakers should ensure the system does not become overly centralized or burdensome for smaller innovators.

"Our freight train system is the envy of the world today." -Marc Scribner

"When you make permitting more streamlined and efficient, that doesn't hurt the environment." -Kristen Walker

"Permitting delays and blocks have caused electricity cost on the east coast to significantly increase." -Kristen Walker

"These delays cause higher capital costs, lost investments, and push industries overseas." -Kristen Walker

"Page lengths of environmental assessments and impacts have significantly increased. There is a lot of time and money spent to put these assessments together to avoid the risk of litigation." -Kristen Walker

Permitting issues are obstructing essential projects and potentially making our aging infrastructure dangerous." -Kristen Walker

"Less government involvement helped save the rail system." -Marc Scribner

"We are running out of road to kick the can down." -David Ditch

Would suspending the gas tax help drop gas prices? "A gas tax "holiday" is a gimmic. Solving the root causes of inflation is more important." -David Ditch

"Increasingly there are a lot of cross subsidizations and hidden subsidies for public transit...[a hidden tax]" -David Ditch

We’re live posting today’s discussion on reauthorizing America’s Surface Transportation programs featuring @Consumerpal's Analyst Kristen Walker alongside experts from @ReasonFdn, @EPICforAmerica, and moderated by @NTU. Tune in starting at 12 PM ET for key takeaways on how Congress can craft a pro-taxpayer infrastructure package.