One Federal Website That Works

[Commentary] The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has just unveiled a sophisticated website aimed at making financial regulations easier to find and understand. Let’s hope other agencies at every level of government take notice. This young agency has been a technology leader. It has asked for -- and received -- extensive online help from consumers in redesigning mortgage disclosures and student financial forms to make them easier to understand. It has built an online list of about 1,000 frequently asked questions and answers on consumer finance that almost a million people have consulted. And now it is working to change the way Americans interact with the regulatory state itself. For a federal agency to create a website that simplifies what is complex and shares as much information as possible amounts to disruptive behavior. As Matthew Burton, CFPB’s acting chief information officer, explains, many people are unaware that when government agencies write regulations, citizens have a right to weigh in. The CFPB wants everyone to be able to navigate the regulatory process. It’s a refreshing idea -- especially in contrast to the story of the moment.

[Crawford is a professor at the Cardozo School of Law and a fellow at the Roosevelt Institute]