South Dakota Protects Regulatory Freedom

On March 12, South Dakota Governor Larry Rhoden signed into law a bill to move legislative rule-making powers back towards its proper place in the Legislative Branch.  

Senate Bill 133, South Dakota’s new partial REINS law, grants regulatory oversight responsibility to the Interim Rules Review Committee. For proposed rules having an estimated cost of over three million dollars over the first two years of implementation, the Committee will determine if there is sufficient legislative authority for the agency proposing said rule to implement it as proposed. The Committee may either declare the rulemaking process complete, or they can recommend that the proposed regulation be brought as future legislation, to be voted on by the full Legislature. 

S.B. 133 brings crucial transparency to the state’s regulatory process. The Committee must hold regular meetings, open to the public, to review proposed regulations. The law also requires a regulatory impact analysis for each proposal; this must include a statement on its total impact, a statement detailing the need for the rule, an explanation of the legal basis for the rule, a list of possible alternatives, and a comprehensive cost-benefit evaluation.  

South Dakota is currently one of the least regulated states; this law is an important step to safeguard that status against shifts in the political landscape. Small business owners and farmers deserve to have confidence in a regulatory climate that will not radically shift as the result of a single election. 

This bill brings the regulatory decision-making process a big step closer to where it belongs: with the elected representatives.  

Molly Powell is a Senior Regulatory Analyst at Americans for Prosperity.