2.7.25 – OCPA
Legislation that would reduce the amount of state regulation imposed on Oklahomans has cleared its first legislative hurdle.
Legislation that would reduce the amount of state regulation imposed on Oklahomans has cleared its first legislative hurdle, receiving bipartisan support to advance out of the House Administrative Rules Committee.
House Bill 2728, by state Rep. Gerrid Kendrix, R-Altus, would create the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act of 2025.
Under the bill, a Legislative Economic Analysis Unit (LEAU) will be created within the existing Legislative Office of Fiscal Transparency (LOFT) to independently review and assess the economic impact of major rules proposed by state agencies.
The legislation defines “major rule” to include any agency rule with an economic impact of $1 million or more over a five-year period.
Under HB 2728, a major rule with an impact of $1 million or more cannot take effect unless it is explicitly approved by both chambers of the Legislature.
“Our goal is to make sure that the administrative rule process does not become a fourth branch of government,” Kendrix said.
Under current law, he noted all administrative rules automatically go into effect unless specifically rejected by the Legislature. Agencies have submitted 266 packets this year, totaling thousands of pages of proposed regulations.
That system has transformed Oklahoma into a highly regulated state, despite its conservative reputation.
According to the 2024 edition of “Snapshots of State Regulations,” issued by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, Oklahoma is the 17th-most regulated state in the country with 142,313 regulations on the books. In comparison, Idaho, the nation’s least-regulated state, has just 31,497 regulations in place.
“Our goal is to make sure that the administrative rule process does not become a fourth branch of government.” —State Rep. Gerrid Kendrix (R-Altus)
Under HB 2728, Oklahoma’s system will flip so that major rules cannot take effect unless proactively approved by the Legislature.
Other states that have adopted similar laws have seen a major reduction in regulation, Kendrix noted.
“In the state of Florida, they put this in in 2010,” Kendrix said. “Since 2010, they’ve seen a 51-percent decrease in the number of rules that are being proposed through the administrative process. That’s what we need to see.”
The nation’s founding fathers sought to separate power between the legislative and executive branches of government so that the legislative branch makes law and the executive branch carries it out. But at the state level, Kendrix said, “we’ve seen a consolidation of those powers through the administrative rules process” with executive branch agencies effectively drafting news laws through regulation.
He said HB 2728 will break up that consolidation.
Only one lawmaker opposed the legislation.
State Rep. John Waldron, D-Tulsa, noted that the drug Thalidomide, marketed as an anti-nausea medicine in the 1950s, resulted in thousands of child deaths as well as birth defects in roughly 20,000 babies around the world. He said the United States was spared much of that problem because a single employee in the federal Food and Drug Administration blocked the drug.
He indicated lawmakers should generally defer to the views of government employees who draft regulations.
“We must recognize the value of science in making informed, data-based decisions,” Waldron said.
HB 2728 passed the House Administrative Rules Committee on a 12-1 vote with both Democrats and Republicans in support.
House Speaker Kyle Hilbert, R-Bristow, praised lawmakers for advancing the reform.
“I want to thank Chairman Kendrix and the members of our caucus who have worked to put in place this thoughtful process that will ensure lawmakers have a say in how the laws we create are implemented at the agency level,” Hilbert said. “It’s the Legislature’s duty to ensure that the rules governing our people are practical and accountable. The REINS Act is a crucial first step toward a better system, and I appreciate Chairman Kendrix’s efforts to drive meaningful reform.”
Ray Carter
Director, Center for Independent Journalism