Administrative state 2024 legislation: 30 states passed 88 bills decreasing agency power

State lawmakers in 44 states considered 583 bills and resolutions in 2024 designed to decrease or increase agency authority and influence or otherwise affect the administrative state. 30 states passed 88 bills and resolutions that decreased agency power.

As of August 16, most state legislative sessions have adjourned, and all but eleven of the significant administrative state-related bills and resolutions considered in 2024 have either been approved or will likely go no further this year. Ballotpedia’s 2024 administrative state legislation report covers all of this year’s administrative state-related legislative activity through August 16.

The report leverages Ballotpedia’s administrative state legislation tracker, which allows you to search bills and resolutions by state, by topic and subtopic, bill status, state trifecta status, sponsor, and summary.

Highlights:

Thirty-eight states adopted or enacted 129 of those bills or resolutions (including three through veto overrides and three legislatively referred ballot measures).

• 30 states passed 88 that decreased agency power
• 8 states passed nine that increased agency power
• 32 bills and resolutions did not clearly increase or decrease agency power

Partisan breakdown of new laws decreasing agency power:

• 13 Republican trifectas passed 44 bills (50%)
• 10 Democratic trifectas passed 20 bills (23%)
• 7 divided governments enacted 24 bills (27%)

• Examples of bills reducing administrative agency power:
• Legislative oversight reforms, such as REINS-style laws and sunset review acts
• Prohibitions on judicial deference to agencies
• Regulatory sandboxes
• Deregulation of permitting and licensing
• Public notice and commentary requirements
• Creation of regulatory reduction agencies and adjudication agencies

Partisan breakdown of new laws increasing agency power:

• 4 Democratic trifectas enacted four bills (50%)
• 2 Republican trifectas enacted three bills (25%)
• 1 divided government enacted one bill (14%)
• Examples of bills increasing administrative agency power:
• Creating new agencies
• Granting new authority or creating new roles and offices in state agencies
• Allowing state agencies to implement rules that exceed federal regulations when that had previously been prohibited

Over one-third of the bills and resolutions that decreased agency authority or influence had to do with the balance of power between legislatures and agencies. Just under a third of them directly addressed how agencies relate to the people, companies, and organizations they regulate. The remaining roughly one-third related to the interplay between agencies and either the courts (8%) or the executive branch (15%) or they governed dynamics among agencies and sub-agencies (13%).

The report details notable legislation, legislation by category as defined by Ballotpedia’s five pillars of the administrative state, and more. Read the report here.