The Oklahoma House Appropriations and Budget Committee today approved legislation that would reform the state’s administrative rulemaking process—the system through which state agencies draft regulations to implement laws passed by the Legislature.

House Bill 2728, authored by Rep. Gerrid Kendrix, would establish the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act of 2025, modeled after similar federal legislation.

"This is a crucial first step toward increasing transparency and oversight over an unelected bureaucracy that has incredible influence on how laws are implemented," said Kendrix, R-Altus. "These rules carry the force of law and largely take effect by default, which does not always serve the Oklahoma taxpayers well. This bill will ensure those elected by Oklahomans have greater oversight of the regulations impacting our state."

If HB2728 is enacted, all proposed rules would be submitted with an economic impact statement, while proposed rules with a projected fiscal impact of at least $1 million over the first five years would require separate proactive legislative approval.

The bill would also establish the Legislative Economic Analysis Unit (LEAU) within the Legislative Office of Fiscal Transparency (LOFT) to provide independent reviews of agencies' economic impact statements to ensure accuracy and completeness. This is modeled after many states that have put in place this third-party evaluation system for administrative rules, which has saved millions in cutting excess red tape and ensuring legislative intent is followed.

"This simplifies the rulemaking process and ensures agency rules are given a third party thorough review before going into effect," said House Speaker Kyle Hilbert, R-Bristow.

HB2728 passed the House A&B Committee unanimously and will next be heard on the House floor.