Indiana bill pushing for more legislative oversight over state agencies fails

A bill that would have given the legislature more oversight over Indiana's state agencies and made it more difficult for them to create administrative rules is dead.

This Republican-backed bill faced strong opposition from Gov. Eric Holcomb, also a Republican, as well as environmental and other advocacy groups.

During a Thursday morning meeting of the Senate Commerce and Technology Committee, chair Sen. Chip Perfect said he was not going to take a vote on House Bill 1100. This decision came after what Perfect, R-Lawrenceburg, called a "eureka moment."

The chairman said he strongly supported the bill, agreeing there are challenges with the state agencies that need to be addressed, but he did not think this was the right way to do it.

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"Something has been gnawing at me about this bill," he said during the committee hearing. "I love the concept but just couldn't get there on this bill. The problem I have with so much legislation we do: It's a one-size-fits-all for several agencies."

Under HB 1100 — authored by Rep. Steve Bartels, R-Eckerty — agencies would have faced new burdens for adopting rules. They would have been required to renew rules more frequently and also submit to state lawmakers an economic impact statement and explanation of any penalty associated with a proposed new rule.

Each year, state agencies pass dozens and renew hundreds of administrative rules. In a way, they are the nuts and bolts that keep the state running.

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Even further, the bill said that none of those rules can be more stringent than corresponding federal rules. That raised serious concerns for state agencies, which are tasked with interpreting those federal rules and implementing them. That's particularly the case for environmental regulations meant to protect natural resources.

The Governor's Office showed up in force at the committee hearing. The legislative directors, general counsel and a representative from the Office of Management & Budget were in attendance.

"We’ve heard from many agencies that have concerns about House Bill 1100, its sweeping nature, and how it may interfere with the efficient delivery of services to Hoosiers and lead to unintended consequences," said Holcomb, who rarely offers such sweeping critiques of legislation, in a previous statement to IndyStar.

Perfect said Thursday that he hoped an amendment made to HB 1100 in his committee last week would have addressed concerns. But he continued to hear from concerned stakeholders how this bill would affect various agencies differently and make the rule-process even more cumbersome.

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Perfect pointed to another bill about administrative rules, Senate Bill 264, that would create a task force to look at various rulemaking processes and compare Indiana's approach to other states. Proponents of this bill say it provides a more comprehensive and deliberate review of the process rather than making abrupt changes to it.

That bill was returned to the Senate Wednesday after passing the House without amendments. That means the bill is on its way to the governor's desk.

Tim Maloney with the Hoosier Environmental Council, one of the bill's opponents, said the group is encouraged by Thursday's outcome. HEC supports a thoughtful review of agency rulemaking through a task force and any potential improvements identified in that process.

Still, the commerce chair all but promised there would be a bill similar to HB 1100 next year.

"We need to come up with a bill exactly like this, the work product of the task force," Perfect said during the committee hearing. "We absolutely have to do better relative to our agency performance and relative to the folks."

IndyStar reporter Kaitlin Lange contributed to this report.

Call IndyStar reporter Sarah Bowman at 317-444-6129 or email at sarah.bowman@indystar.com. Follow her on Twitter and Facebook: @IndyStarSarah. Connect with IndyStar’s environmental reporters: Join The Scrub on Facebook.

IndyStar's environmental reporting project is made possible through the generous support of the nonprofit Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana legislation pushing for more oversight fails