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Louisiana REINS-style state law

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What is a REINS-style state law?

REINS-style state laws refer to state laws in the spirit of the federal Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act that require legislative approval of proposed state agency rules with associated costs in excess of a certain monetary threshold. REINS-style state laws aim to give state legislators the preemptive authority to halt the initial enactment of certain administrative regulations.

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The Louisiana REINS-style state law (Senate Bill 59) is a REINS-style state law signed into law by Governor Jeff Landry (R) on June 8, 2025, that requires legislative approval of rules with implementation and compliance costs of $200,000 per year (or $600,000 over three years).[1]

REINS-style state laws refer to state laws in the spirit of the federal Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act. These laws require legislative approval of proposed state agency rules that carry associated costs in excess of a certain monetary threshold.

The Louisiana REINS Act includes the following provision:[2]

“

Except as otherwise provided in Subparagraph (b) of this paragraph, any proposed action that the legislative fiscal office determines will result in either the expenditure of state funds or an economic impact involving costs to regulated entities estimated at two hundred thousand dollars per year or more or six hundred thousand dollars or more over three years shall not take effect unless the appropriate legislative oversight subcommittees determine that the action is acceptable.[3]

”

Background

See also: Rulemaking, REINS Act

The federal REINS Act, which the Louisiana state version was modeled on, was initially designed by Tea Party activist Lloyd Rogers in 2009. Rogers contacted former U.S. Representative Geoff Davis (R-Ky.) to propose legislation requiring that "all rules, regulations, or mandates that require citizens, state or local government financial expenditures must first be approved by the U.S. Congress before they can become effective." The proposal was incorporated into the Republican Party's Pledge to America legislative agenda leading up to the 2010 election cycle and was later introduced as legislation. It has since been introduced in the 112th Congress (2011-2013) through the 118th Congress (2023-2025).[4][5]

REINS-style state laws are modeled on the proposed federal-level REINS Act, and contain the following two reform proposals: requiring a cost-benefit analysis of a rule expected to exceed certain financial or economic thresholds, and preemptive legislative action on that agency rule.

Cost-based analyses of agency rules require an entity to review and evaluate the impact of agency rules and determine if they are expected to exceed a certain cost threshold over a certain time. REINS-style state laws differ on the cost threshold and across how much time, whether non-quantifiable or social costs are included, and who completes the evaluation. The evaluator can be a legislative committee, a legislative office, an independent reviewer, or an agency entity.

REINS-style state laws require legislative action before an agency rule identified as having an estimated cost above the specified threshold can go into effect. The degree of legislative action varies; it can be legislative review by a legislatively controlled body, approval through a joint or concurrent resolution, or enactment of a statute that approves a ru

Legislative history

The Louisiana REINS Act was introduced into the Louisiana State Senate on April 14, 2025, by the Committee on Senate and Governmental Affairs as Senate Bill (SB) 59. The bill passed the Senate on May 8, 2025, and advanced through the Louisiana House of Representatives with amendments on June 2, 2025. The final version of the bill, after reconciliation, was approved by the Senate on June 3, 2025. It was sent to Gov. Spencer Cox (R) on June 5, 2025, and signed into law on June 8, 2025.[1]

Below is an abbreviated timeline of the legislative history of the Louisiana REINS Act:[2]

  • April 14, 2025: SB 59 was introduced in the Louisiana State Senate and referred to the Committee on Senate and Governmental Affairs.
  • May 8, 2025: The bill passed the Louisiana State Senate as amended with a vote of 29-0.
  • May 13, 2025: The bill was referred to the Committee on House and Governmental Affairs.
  • June 2, 2025: The bill passed the Louisiana House of Representatives as amended with a vote of 98-0.
  • June 3, 2025: The reconciled bill passed the Louisiana State Senate with a vote of 37-0.
  • June 8, 2025: Gov. Jeff Landry (R) signed the bill into law.

Provisions

The sections below contain a series of quotes explaining the major provisions of the law, according to the text of the law. The quotes outline the requirement that rules exceeding a cost threshold receive legislative approval, and two exceptions to this requirement.[2]

Legislative approval for rules exceeding cost threshold

The following section outlines the law's requirement that rules exceeding the cost threshold must receive legislative approval to enter into force:

“

Except as otherwise provided in Subparagraph (b) of this paragraph, any proposed action that the legislative fiscal office determines will result in either the expenditure of state funds or an economic impact involving costs to regulated entities estimated at two hundred thousand dollars per year or more or six hundred thousand dollars or more over three years shall not take effect unless the appropriate legislative oversight subcommittees determine that the action is acceptable.[3]

”

Fiscal note exception

The following section outlines an exception to the legislative approval requirement:

“

This requirement shall not apply if the legislative fiscal office determines that the fiscal or economic impact of the proposed action is less than or equal to the amount accounted for in the fiscal note for legislation that required the action.[3]

”

Gubernatorial approval exception

The following section outlines an exception to the legislative approval requirement:

“

A proposed action specified in Subparagraph (a) of this Paragraph may take effect without a determination by the legislative oversight committees that the action is acceptable only if both of the following occur: (i) At least one legislative oversight committee fails to conduct a hearing for the purpose of making a determination regarding the proposed action within thirty days of receipt of the report required by R.S. 49:966(D)(1)(b). (ii) The governor deems the action acceptable in writing. [3]

”

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Louisiana State Legislature, "SB59," accessed June 24, 2025
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Louisiana State Legislature, "Act No. 98," accessed June 24, 2025
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  4. ↑ The Jackson Sun, "We were never closer to seeing REINS Act become law," January 4, 2017
  5. ↑ Boston Herald, "Smith: Congress can regain power with REINS," January 6, 2017
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