Louisiana agencies will soon face a higher bar before they can roll out regulations that carry big price tags.
Gov. Jeff Landry on Wednesday signed into law Senate Bill 59, which amends the state’s Administrative Procedure Act to require an extra layer of approval when proposed regulations would trigger substantial state spending.
Under the new law, any rule the Legislative Fiscal Office says will cost the state $200,000 or more per year or $600,000 or more over three years cannot take effect unless the Legislature’s relevant oversight subcommittees sign off first. The governor has the authority to deem such a rule acceptable without the approval of the relevant oversight committees only if at least one of the relevant committees fails to act within 30 days of being notified of the proposed rule and its projected costs.
“We are reigning in agency overreach and making sure that every regulation is subject to proper legislative oversight and public scrutiny,” a statement from the governor’s office reads. “This protects taxpayers and promotes economic growth.”
Landry is calling SB59, now Act 98, Louisiana’s “REINS Act.” That’s a nod to a proposed federal law called the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act.
First introduced in Congress in 2009 and refiled in the current session, the federal REINS Act would require that both chambers of Congress approve any new regulation projected to cost $100 million or more per year.
While the Louisiana law has lower thresholds and gives the governor a means of enacting rules when the Legislature stalls, the philosophy is the same: Major regulations should not become binding unless elected officials take a vote—or, in Louisiana’s case, at least have an opportunity to do so.
Critics of the federal REINS Act argue that the law would undermine the ability of agencies to respond efficiently to pressing concerns—especially environmental, health and safety concerns—by stripping decision-making power from agencies staffed with subject matter experts.
Landry signed three other bills into law on Wednesday: House Bills 617 and 624, which create a “One Door” system that positions Louisiana Works—the rebranded Louisiana Workforce Commission—as a one-stop shop for key social safety net programs, and HB153, which increases the number of job searches required to receive unemployment benefits from three per week to five.
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