ALEC Policy Champions: Kansas Sen. Renee Erickson and Rep. Barb Wasinger Protect Citizens from Agency Overreach
Congratulations to ALEC members Sen. Erickson and Rep. Wasinger for limiting agency rulemaking authority and restoring the balance of government in the Sunflower State!
Earlier this year, the Kansas state legislature overrode Governor Laura Kelly’s veto of major regulatory reform legislation, HB 2648. Effective July 1, the new law restrains bureaucratic overreach and increases government accountability by returning approval power to the state legislature via a REINS Act-style reform. We are honored to recognize ALEC members Senator Renee Erickson and Representative Barb Wasinger as our latest ALEC Policy Champions for their dedication to championing this reform through the lawmaking process.
Kansas House Majority Leader Chris Croft acknowledged this effort and reform in his main stage discussion at the ALEC Annual Meeting this July. He highlighted the fact that unelected bureaucrats had been able to make rules and implement agendas without being directly accountable to the public, and that HB 2648 meaningfully changes this by amending the rulemaking process.
Kansas now requires that rules and regulations with an estimated economic impact of $1 million or more over an initial five-year period must receive legislative approval before going into effect. To ensure agency compliance, agency impact statements must be submitted with proposed rules and regulations to the Director of the Budget for review. State agencies also have the option to revise regulatory proposals to reduce the project costs, giving agencies an opportunity to explore less costly and restrictive options.
By empowering the legislature’s regulatory oversight, HB 2648 accomplishes a similar goal as ALEC’s Targeted Legislative Review Act (one of ALEC’s Essential Policy Solutions for 2024). This model policy addresses the issue of agency overreach by creating a Legislative Economic Analysis Unit (LEAU) within state legislature to conduct independent economic analysis and determine whether a regulation meets the criteria of a “major rule.” If the LEAU determines that a proposed regulation meets the above criteria, it must receive legislative approval to take effect. This process protects citizens from agency overreach by requiring legislative approval on rules with a “major” impact on the economy.
Congratulations to Sen. Erickson and Rep. Wasinger for limiting agency rulemaking authority and restoring the balance of government in the Sunflower State!