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Committee hears RAINS-style bill to expand rule review; testimony left open
Summary
Senate File 127, a RAINS-style bill to add economic impact review and broaden legislative ability to challenge administrative rules, received testimony and agency comment; the committee left public comment open and will resume consideration on Friday.
Senate File 127, a bill to expand legislative review of administrative rules and require regulatory impact analysis for rules that impose significant economic or social effects, was presented to the House Corporations, Elections & Political Subdivisions Committee and received extensive agency and sponsor testimony. Committee members did not vote and left public comment open, scheduling further consideration for Friday.
Senator Mike Bonner, the bill sponsor, described the measure as a RAINS (Regulations of the Executive in Need of Scrutiny)-style act that would require legislative-level economic analysis of agency rules and allow any legislator to file a legislative order to challenge a rule. The bill would add criteria to identify "major rules" (including a private-sector economic-impact threshold and provisions for rules with substantial social effects), require an LSO economist or equivalent staff to prepare analyses, and direct an interim management-audit review of the rule-review process. The engrossed bill includes a July 1, 2026, effective date to allow time for staffing and implementation.
Kit Wetland, special counsel and tribal relations policy adviser to the governor, spoke for the executive branch and said the governor's office could "live with" the version of the bill that passed the Senate but urged the committee not to add further amendments that could undermine rule finality or create additional administrative layers. Wetland outlined existing checks and balances in Wyoming's rulemaking process — public notice and comment periods, management-council review, the legislative order process and judicial review — and cautioned against changes that would threaten state primacy in areas regulated under federal law.
The sponsor and LSO discussed amendments to distinguish rule types, refine the definition of a major rule, and clarify staffing and job-title language for the economic-analysis function. The committee received the governor's office recommendation to adopt the Senate engrossed language and to reject further changes; committee members asked LSO to provide more detail and requested additional agency review. The committee left testimony open and scheduled follow-up consideration to allow LSO and the governor's office to review sponsor-proposed amendments and provide written comments before the next hearing.
No committee votes occurred during the hearing; the bill will return to the committee docket for additional testimony and potential amendment before any committee action.
