It's time we had a serious talk about the administrative state.
You know the type — those unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats who seem to think they were put on this Earth to make life miserable for the rest of us. They crank out endless rules and regulations from their cozy government offices, completely insulated from the consequences of their own decisions. They’ve grabbed far too much power, not just in Washington, but in state capitals across the country.
While they’re busy inventing new hoops for everyone to jump through, it’s the small business owners — the backbone of this country — who get crushed under the weight of compliance. These are people trying to build something, hire workers, and contribute to their communities. But instead, they’re forced to waste precious time and hard-earned money dealing with red tape that serves no real purpose.
The bureaucrats don’t feel the pain; only the rest of us do. This isn’t governance; it’s control. And it’s long past time to put a stop to it.
While Congress is still dragging its feet on implementing the recommendations from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) for cutting wasteful spending, there’s promising movement happening at the state level. And thank goodness for that.
Across the country, some states are stepping up and doing more than just talking — they’re pushing legislation that takes direct aim at the unchecked power of the administrative state. These efforts aim to restore accountability and prevent unelected bureaucrats from piling on needless regulations that punish small businesses and working Americans. It’s almost shocking: lawmakers who actually want to take back control and have a say in how their own constituents are governed.
"While the Trump administration continues to pursue reforms that reduce the federal regulatory burden, which now exceeds the combined cost of personal and corporate income taxes, governors and state lawmakers across the country are making progress this year when it comes to taming state regulatory burdens, namely by passing state-level versions of the [Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny)] REINS Act," reports Forbes. "The federal REINS Act, which would subject new regulations with a cost exceeding $100 million to congressional approval, is still awaiting consideration on Capitol Hill. In the meantime, the number of states with their own version of the REINS Act continues to grow."
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According to the report, as many as 25% of states could enact REINS Act-style laws by next year. Sadly, I live in the blue state of New York, and I am definitely not expecting such a thing to happen here, State lawmakers in Ohio have introduced House Bill 11, a bill that demands any proposed regulation expected to have a “substantial economic impact” go through an extensive legislative review process before getting the green light from the state legislature.
This isn't just a minor hurdle, either. If passed, this bill includes three specific cost triggers: if a regulation increases agency spending by $100,000 or more, costs affected parties $100,000 or more in compliance, or causes an annual economic impact of $1 million or more, it automatically faces scrutiny from state lawmakers. Naturally, this is how it should be. The people we elect should have the final say on regulations with significant economic consequences, not some nameless, faceless bureaucrat.
North Carolina is following suit. It has the North Carolina REINS Act (House Bill 402) moving through the legislature. This bill would require lawmakers to approve any regulation projected to have an impact of $1 million or more on the state's economy over a year. In fact, this is exactly the kind of common-sense measure we need. It ensures that bureaucrats, whose names we may not even know, can't arbitrarily force absurd or wasteful regulations that hinder people from doing business in the state.
This is a critical step in the right direction. The REINS Act, at both the state and federal levels, is designed to snatch the power to enact economically damaging rules away from unelected bureaucrats and put it back where it belongs: with the legislature. In essence, it means our elected lawmakers will finally have more oversight on whether certain regulations are allowed to take effect.
We elected representatives to represent us, not delegate their legislative power to some obscure agency. It’s time to reclaim that representation and put the brakes on the administrative state's overreach. The REINS Act is a vital tool in that fight.
