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sb445_00_IN
As Introduced
136th
General Assembly
Regular
Session
S. B. No. 445
2025-2026
Senator Brenner
To
amend sections 121.95 and 121.951 of the Revised Code
to
revise the definition of "regulatory restriction" for
purposes of administrative rulemaking and to specify that certain
rule changes alone do not eliminate a restriction.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section
1.
That
sections 121.95 and 121.951 of the Revised Code be amended to read as
follows:
Sec.
121.95.
(A)
As used in sections 121.95, 121.951, 121.952, 121.953, and 121.954 of
the Revised Code
,
"state
:
(1)
"State
agency"
means an administrative department created under section 121.02 of
the Revised Code, an administrative department head appointed under
section 121.03 of the Revised Code, and a state agency organized
under an administrative department or administrative department head.
"State agency" also includes the department of education
and workforce, the state lottery commission, the Ohio casino control
commission, the state racing commission, and the public utilities
commission of Ohio. Rules adopted by an otherwise independent
official or entity organized under a state agency shall be attributed
to the agency under which the official or entity is organized for the
purposes of sections 121.95, 121.951, 121.952, 121.953, and 121.954
of the Revised Code.
(2)
"Regulatory restriction" means any part of a rule that
requires or prohibits an action.
(B)
Not later than December 31, 2019, a state agency shall review its
existing rules to identify rules having one or more regulatory
restrictions
that require or prohibit an action
and
prepare a base inventory of the regulatory restrictions in its
existing rules.
Rules
that include the words "shall," "must,"
"require," "shall not," "may not," and
"prohibit" shall be considered to contain regulatory
restrictions.
(C)
In the base inventory, the state agency shall indicate all of the
following concerning each regulatory restriction:
(1)
A description of the regulatory restriction;
(2)
The rule number of the rule in which the regulatory restriction
appears;
(3)
The statute under which the regulatory restriction was adopted;
(4)
Whether state or federal law expressly and specifically requires the
agency to adopt the regulatory restriction or the agency adopted the
regulatory restriction under the agency's general authority;
(5)
Whether removing the regulatory restriction would require a change to
state or federal law, provided that removing a regulatory restriction
adopted under a law granting the agency general authority shall be
presumed not to require a change to state or federal law;
(6)
Any other information the joint committee on agency rule review
considers necessary.
(D)
The state agency shall compute and state the total number of
regulatory restrictions indicated in the base inventory, shall post
the base inventory on its web site, and shall electronically transmit
a copy of the inventory to the joint committee. The joint committee
shall review the base inventory, then transmit it electronically to
the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of the
senate.
(E)
The following types of rules or regulatory restrictions are not
required to be included in a state agency's inventory of regulatory
restrictions:
(1)
An internal management rule;
(2)
An emergency rule;
(3)
A rule that state or federal law requires the state agency to adopt
verbatim;
(4)
A regulatory restriction contained in materials or documents
incorporated by reference into a rule pursuant to sections 121.71 to
121.75 of the Revised Code;
(5)
A rule adopted pursuant to section 1347.15 of the Revised Code;
(6)
A rule concerning instant lottery games;
(7)
A rule adopted by the Ohio casino control commission or the state
lottery commission concerning sports gaming;
(8)
Any other rule that is not subject to review under Chapter 106. of
the Revised Code;
(9)
Any rule that is adopted as a requirement for the state agency to
obtain or maintain accreditation or certification from a multistate
organization consisting of at least forty-five participating states.
(F)
Beginning on October 17, 2019, and ending on June 30, 2025, a state
agency may not adopt a new regulatory restriction unless it
simultaneously removes two or more other existing regulatory
restrictions. The state agency may not satisfy this section by
merging two or more existing regulatory restrictions into a single
surviving regulatory restriction.
Sec.
121.951.
(A)(1)
Using the criteria listed in division (A) of section 106.03 of the
Revised Code, a state agency shall amend or rescind rules identified
in its base inventory of regulatory restrictions prepared under
section 121.95 of the Revised Code as necessary to reduce the total
number of regulatory restrictions by thirty per cent, according to
the following schedule:
(a)
A ten per cent reduction not later than June 30, 2023;
(b)
A twenty per cent reduction not later than June 30, 2024; and
(c)
The thirty per cent reduction not later than June 30, 2025.
When
a state agency has achieved a reduction of any percentage in
regulatory restrictions, whether or not as specified in this section,
the state agency may not adopt or maintain regulatory restrictions
that would negate the reduction.
(2)
Beginning July 1, 2025, a state agency that has not achieved the
specified thirty per cent reduction may not adopt a new regulatory
restriction unless it simultaneously removes two or more other
existing regulatory restrictions, until the specified thirty per cent
reduction has been achieved. The state agency may not fulfill this
requirement by merging two or more existing regulatory restrictions
into a single surviving regulatory restriction.
Removing or replacing "shall," "must," "require,"
"shall not," "may not," "prohibit," or
similar words in a portion of a rule does not remove a regulatory
restriction from a rule unless the removal eliminates a requirement
or prohibition from the rule.
(3)
A state agency is encouraged to continue to reduce regulatory
restrictions after it has achieved the specified thirty per cent
reduction.
(B)(1)
Not later than September 15, 2022, a state agency shall prepare an
historical report of its progress in reducing regulatory restrictions
over the period of time beginning when the agency prepared its base
inventory under section 121.95 of the Revised Code and ending on June
30, 2022. Annually thereafter, a state agency shall prepare an
historical report of its progress in reducing regulatory restrictions
over the preceding fiscal year. The state agency shall explain in the
report how it applied the criteria described in division (A) of
section 106.03 of the Revised Code to its determinations as to which
regulatory restrictions to amend or rescind. The state agency shall
include a revised inventory of regulatory restrictions with the
report.
(2)
In the revised inventory, in addition to the information required by
section 121.95 of the Revised Code, the state agency shall compute
the percentage net reduction in regulatory restrictions by
subtracting the current number of regulatory restrictions from the
number of regulatory restrictions identified in the base inventory
and then dividing the resulting number by the number of regulatory
restrictions in the base inventory.
(3)
The state agency shall transmit the report electronically to the
joint committee on agency rule review. The joint committee shall
review the report and shall transmit it electronically to the speaker
of the house of representatives and the president of the senate. The
state agency shall continue preparing and transmitting annual reports
until it has reported that it has achieved the required reduction in
regulatory restrictions.
Section
2.
That
existing sections 121.95 and 121.951 of the Revised Code are hereby
repealed.