Protect Public Health & Safety from Political Gridlock!

I stand in strong opposition to SB891 (Coleman) and SB877 (Fitzwater). While framed as a check on bureaucracy, these bills are a blueprint for legislative gridlock that will cripple effective governance and harm the people of our state. This legislation inserts a political veto into essential, expert-driven regulatory processes. By requiring full General Assembly approval for countless routine rule changes, it guarantees paralysis. Our legislature, already burdened with a complex and packed calendar, cannot become a micromanager of every technical standard and enforcement procedure. Vital updates—whether to sanitation codes, environmental protections, or professional licensing standards—will languish for months or years, trapped in political maneuvering. The $250,000 threshold is a deceptive trigger. In public health, safety, and environmental stewardship, the cost of inaction far exceeds this amount. Delaying a rule to update water quality testing or workplace safety protocols to avoid agency expenditure makes no sense when the human and financial toll of failure is immense. This bill prioritizes a narrow fiscal metric over the prevention of far greater public cost. Furthermore, it dangerously politicizes expertise. It substitutes the informed recommendations of career scientists, engineers, and inspectors for the whims of political horse-trading. A rule based on data could be blocked or diluted not because it’s unsound, but because it inconveniences a well-connected special interest. Our current system already provides robust public notice, comment, and legislative oversight. These bills go far beyond oversight; they establish a system of pre-approval that is unworkable. They will result in a stagnant regulatory environment where rules cannot keep pace with emerging challenges, making our state less safe, less healthy, and less competitive. I urge you to reject SB891 and SB877. Do not handcuff our agencies and sacrifice public well-being for procedural obstruction.