Government has grown out of control as unelected bureaucrats in state agencies wield unchecked legislative power that encroaches on individual liberties. But this week, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt signed two groundbreaking Goldwater Institute reforms that rein in this Administrative State and put power back in the hands of the people.
Together, these two laws address both judicial deference to administrative agency interpretations of law and restore legislative authority over costly rules implemented by state agencies. The first bill, HB 2729, championed by Rep. Gerrid Kendrix and Sen. Michael Bergstrom, requires state courts, hearing examiners, or administrative officers to independently interpret state statutes or regulations without deferring to a state agency’s interpretation. Additionally, in any action brought by or against a state agency, after applying all customary tools of interpretation, the court or hearing officer must rule in favor of individual liberty over agency power. The legislation was inspired in part by the Judicial Deference Reform Act, the Goldwater Institute’s model legislation created in conjunction with the Pacific Legal Foundation.
In 2018, Arizona became the first state in the country to adopt Goldwater’s model legislation ending judicial deference to agency interpretations of law. Since then, 14 other states have followed suit via legislation or through court decisions.
Across the nation, government agencies often expand their constitutional power by applying overly generous interpretations of statutes and their own regulations. These expansive interpretations are then upheld by courts, who are quick to defer. This creates an unbalanced legal system where the cards are stacked in favor of unelected government employees and against average Americans. Moreover, when judges constantly rely on agencies to interpret their regulations, agencies cannot truly provide an objective perspective on the matter. This dynamic effectively turns administrative agencies into law-making entities that step into the constitutional domain of the legislative branch.
In fact, in 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court finally recognized that agency deference is fundamentally unfair and that courts have the sole constitutional duty to interpret law by overturning Chevron deference in Loper Bright v. Raimondo. However, numerous state courts across the country still defer to state agency interpretations of law and regulations.
Luckily, this bias in favor of bureaucrats has been curbed thanks to the work of Rep. Kendrix and Sen. Bergstrom, who did not stop with HB 2729.
In fact, they continued their efforts to restore the constitutional principles of separation of powers by proposing HB 2728, otherwise known as the Goldwater-backed Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act of 2025. The bill states that any rule made by a state agency with a fiscal impact exceeding $1 million over a five-year period will not take effect unless the legislature approves it by a constitutional majority in each chamber. This act targets regulations that cost taxpayers the most, aiming to ensure legislative approval for rules that significantly affect them.
When left unchecked by legislative oversight, costly regulations are produced by a process that exists external to our democratic system. By allowing unelected bureaucrats to cash checks that the legislature does not sign, the very concept of “separation of powers” is challenged. In these cases, not only do regulatory agencies waste valuable tax dollars without proper approval, but they also undermine the authority of the voter to decide how they are governed in the process. By vesting oversight of costly rules in the legislature, the bill ultimately grants the branch closest to voters the final say on regulations that have a significant impact on the economy.
As this trend of holding the administrative state accountable expands around the country, these reforms offer real, long-term solutions to problems that most Americans feel helpless to solve. The Goldwater Institute applauds Oklahoma for addressing these imbalances of state power.
Taylor Walker is a State Affairs Associate at the Goldwater Institute.
