South Carolina is poised to become the 15th state to adopt a "REINS Act" mechanism that forces high-cost regulations through legislative approval. On June 25, both chambers of the South Carolina Legislature voted unanimously for final passage of H.3021, the Small Business Regulatory Freedom Act, according to a June 26 report from Americans for Tax Reform. The bill now awaits the signature of Gov. Henry McMaster, who's expected to sign it into law.
Under H.3021, any regulation with an economic cost exceeding $1 million over five years must face an up-or-down vote in the state legislature. The South Carolina House and Senate both unanimously approved the conference committee report on the legislation. When enacted, South Carolina will join 14 other states that have put similar guardrails on regulatory agencies.
According to Ben Homeyer, the National Federation of Independent Business's South Carolina director, "Small business owners spend too much time and money complying with regulations that are outdated, unnecessary, or more complicated than they need to be." Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, called the move "a great way to cap off a historic year for the South Carolina Legislature, which also featured the approval of landmark tax reform that will give South Carolina the nation's lowest flat income tax." The report notes that Norquist views South Carolina lawmakers as "national leaders in conservative regulatory reform" following the bill's passage.
The REINS Act model—short for Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny—shifts power over expensive regulations from executive agencies back to elected legislators. The theory behind these laws is simple: unelected bureaucrats shouldn't be able to impose million-dollar costs on businesses and citizens without lawmakers weighing in. By requiring a legislative vote on any regulation that crosses the $1 million threshold over five years, South Carolina's version ensures that the people writing the rules face accountability at the ballot box. The unanimous passage in both chambers suggests that concerns about regulatory overreach cut across party lines, at least when it comes to protecting small businesses from compliance costs.
Norquist signaled that he wants to see the model spread further, saying "I encourage legislators and governors in as many states as possible to go ahead and implement their own REINS Act at the state level" while waiting for enough votes to pass a federal version in the U.S. Senate. With 15 states now on board, the state-level REINS movement is building momentum as a way to rein in what supporters view as unchecked regulatory growth that burdens Main Street businesses.