Rep. Tom Gann, R-Inola, commented on legislation that creates the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules being signed into law by Gov. Stitt.

Senate Bill 913 will ensure agency rules go through a more transparent and thorough process before being approved or repealed by the Legislature and ultimately the governor.

“Senate Bill 913 fundamentally changes how rules are processed for the State of Oklahoma,” said Gann, the chair of the House Administrative Rules Committee. “The newly created Joint Committee on Administrative Rules will provide additional oversight to the administrative process, which ultimately will result in better policy for Oklahomans.”

Gann explained that state agencies promulgate rules that once approved by the Legislature have the full effect of law. The problem has been that the rules from about 200 state agencies, boards and commission are received April 1 each year, right in the middle of the legislative session. This gives the 10 members of the House Administrative Rules Committee very little time to examine the sometimes thousands of rules presented to them.

The current process also only allows rules to be approved in bulk or forces lawmakers to run separate resolutions on each rule recommended for rejection or repeal.