Bill would require state agencies to disclose when they adopt rules based on NGO model language

Ohio lawmakers are considering legislation that would require state agencies to disclose when they adopt a rule based on model language from a nongovernmental organization.

Under Senate Bill 268, the agency must announce its intent at least 60 days in advance, hold a public hearing, and convene a “diverse advisory committee” to assess the rule’s local impact.

“The power to write and implement administrative rules carries the same weight as lawmaking,” state Sen. Al Cutrona, R-Canfield, said in prepared sponsor testimony to the Senate General Government Committee in November.

“Yet, in many cases, the rules affecting Ohio’s businesses, workers, and communities are influenced by organizations that operate outside our borders and beyond public scrutiny,” Cutrona, who sponsored the measure with state Sen. George Lang, R-West Chester, added. “This bill does not prohibit collaboration with national or regional organizations—it simply ensures that when outside influence exists, it is visible and accountable.”

The measure mandates state agencies to file an annual report with the Ohio Ethics Commission disclosing funding or support they received from regulatory-focused NGOs, travel or expenses paid by those groups for agency officials, and any leadership or membership roles held by agency employees within those organizations. The Ethics Commission would be required to make the information publicly accessible online.

In prepared testimony to the Senate General Government Committee earlier this month, Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist said the measure, should it become law, “will add needed real-world perspective on regulations.”

“An unaccountable bureaucracy is a major driver of big, burdensome government that hampers private sector innovation and growth,” Norquist said.

Norquist pointed to the Supreme Court’s June 2024 decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, which overturned Chevron deference, which effectively allowed federal agencies to interpret ambiguous statutes, as helping to restore “legislative accountability to the bureaucracy.” Norquist also pointed to Regulations in Need of Scrutiny, or REINS, Act measures that lawmakers in 10 states have enacted, saying SB 268 “is a smart accountability measure that will increase transparency for regulators in Ohio.”

“This would finally allow the public, and lawmakers, to see when regulations from these national associations are directly taken and implemented in Ohio,” Norquist said of the Ohio bill.

“It would not bar this practice, nor prevent easy uniformity between states on rules and regulations,” Norquist added. “The measure only adds transparency so significant rules do not fly under the radar without appropriate public examination.”

Worries about NGOs are not new. In December 2024, The Buckeye Institute issued a policy report, “Beware the Trojan Horse of Rulemaking Nongovernment Organizations.” In it, the Columbus-based think tank urged policymakers to remember “the ancient lesson of Troy” and increase transparency around NGOs and the rules they promulgate.

At the time, The Buckeye Institute pointed to a pair of NGO-drafted regulations used in the state.

The Ohio Board of Building Standards adopted the National Electrical Code, developed by the National Fire Protection Association, as the basis for its electrical regulations. The board also adopted the International Plumbing Code, developed by the International Code Council, as the basis for its plumbing regulations.