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Rep. Scott Garrett, R-N.J., unveiled legislation Wednesday to revise a 2002 law intended to clean up U.S. corporate accounting, which he says has had unintended consequences and may be driving some U.S. firms overseas.

Garrett’s bill seeks to reduce companies’ costs of complying with the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act while giving the White House and Congress more control over oversight of public-company accountants.

The bill would shake up the private oversight board that inspects and disciplines accountants, a centerpiece of the 2002 law which ended decades of self-regulation of accountants. Free-market groups are challenging the board as unconstitutional because its members are appointed by the Securities and Exchange Commission, rather than the President. Garrett’s bill calls for the five-member board to be appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. In addition, it proposes the board be paid like Cabinet members, earning about $ 175,000 annually, a big cut from 2006 annual salaries of $500,000 for board members and $615,000 for the oversight-board chairman.

Morningstar: NJ Lawmaker Seeks To Revise Sarbanes-Oxley Act