Whether renewing a driver's license, renting a campsite at a state park or running a small business, Hoosiers often connect with one of Indiana's state agencies for help. In fact, nearly 50 agencies operate in the state, each one playing a part in ensuring government is responsive, transparent and accountable to those we serve. As your state legislator, a top priority is to ensure our state government works for the people – and not the other way around.
To increase transparency, I authored legislation that would overhaul the rulemaking process for state agencies to add transparency, and give the public more opportunity to comment and contest fines leveled by agencies.
In total, state agencies have more than 93,000 rules, and in 2020 alone, agencies submitted 213 proposed rules, 300 emergency rules and 206 re-adopted rules. These rules are not written in state law, which means legislators – who are the people's representatives – do not weigh in.
House Bill 1623 would revamp the administrative rulemaking process by standardizing the required regulatory analysis to determine if the proposed rule minimizes costs to regulated entities and taxpayers, achieves its regulatory goal in the least restrictive manner possible and is written in a way that is easy to understand. Once the analysis is approved, the agency must share all available information on the proposed rule with the public to encourage transparency and feedback. Public comment periods would be standardized to 30 days. After initial public comment, the agency would be required to respond to all feedback during a second public comment period. This means they have to justify or defend decisions to accept or decline recommendations from Hoosiers, shining more light on the regulatory process. After these steps, any adopted rule would be reviewed by the Indiana Attorney General to ensure legality, and then approved by the governor in order to take effect.
During the height of the pandemic, Indiana's state agencies and executive bodies faced many challenges, and in turn they made loads of changes to their administrative rules. Ultimately these changes impacted everything from their operations to how residents interact with agencies. While it is not uncommon for these types of rule changes, the pandemic put a bright spotlight on how these rules – regardless of their intentions – can ultimately add unnecessary and burdensome steps for everyday Hoosiers.
My legislation would change the emergency rulemaking process to make it more streamlined and transparent. Emergency rules could only be authorized by the governor in certain events like imminent threats to the public. Any emergency rules would expire after 180 days and not have the option for renewal.
Another component of my bill would shorten the renewal process of administrative rules from seven years to five, and require agencies to notify the General Assembly of readopting a rule on the fourth year. This would give the legislature more time to review these regulations and address any improprieties.
HB 1623 would also expand the number of reasons attorney fees could be awarded to Hoosiers who have been fined by agencies for a policy violation. Those include when that agency fails to demonstrate they acted within their legal authority, or their action is based on a standard that has the force of law.
Finally, this legislation would stipulate that Hoosiers seeking an occupational license would not have to pay any fees, or would be refunded fees, if the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency fails to enforce regulations related to that licensure. Professionals should not be unnecessarily burdened with paying for licensing that's not even needed within the existing regulatory environment.
I believe we can and should do more to ensure our state government is responsive, transparent and accountable to those we serve. As your state representative, I encourage you to share your thoughts with me on this issue and other issues important to you as we continue the legislative session. I can be reached at h74@iga.in.gov or 317-232-9863.
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State Rep. Stephen Bartels (R-Eckerty) represents House District 74,
which includes Crawford, Perry and Spencer counties, and portions of Dubois and Orange counties.
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