(The Center Square) – Two Ohio lawmakers are using a Republican federal proposal from 2024 as the basis for state legislation to remove ultimate rulemaking authority from the governor.
Instead, Reps. Ron Ferguson, R-Wintersville, and Brian Lorenz, R-Powell, want the Legislature to have oversight of certain administrative agency rulemaking when financial or economic impacts are involved.
“Ohioans are tired of unelected regulators making the rules, and we intend to shine a light on that process,” Ferguson said.
The recently introduced House Bill 11 – or Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act – would require a legislative review of a proposed rule if it increases the agency’s expenditures by $100,000 or more or costs affect parties $100,000 more to comply.
“The REINS Act is a pivotal piece of legislation to check state overreach and ensure Ohioans have the tools available, should they need to defend their rights,” Lorenz said. “This helps to solidify the expectations of separate but equal powers our Founding Fathers envisioned for our Republic.”
The legislation closely follows a federal plan introduced by U.S. Rep. Kat Cammack, R-Florida, and U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, in September that would give Congress checks over the executive branch.
It would require that after major rules are drafted by the executive branch, they must be approved by both the House and Senate and signed by the president before being enacted. Currently, new regulations take effect unless Congress specifically disapproves.
The original REINS Act passed the House in June 2023 but never passed the Senate.
Cammack reintroduced the act Jan. 3 in the 119th Congress.
“Nameless, faceless, unelected bureaucrats in Washington have had too much power over the American people for far too long,” Cammack said. “The federal bureaucracy’s rapid growth over the last several decades has resulted in serious damage to the livelihoods of millions of Americans with reckless rulemaking not approved by the body granted Article I authority.”
