What’s Wrong with Regulation Over Legislation

Having regulation guide policy instead of legislation was not what was intended by either the Founders or the writers of state constitutions.

I identify as a conservative and, therefore, believe that government regulation should be used sparingly and to accomplish a narrow goal. Too often legislative bodies acquiesce in their responsibilities by passing overly broad statutes. Each time that happens, the intent of the legislation is no longer in the hands of the elected body but rather the bureaucracy.

When crafting regulation, the bureaucracy must write a code and rules which ultimately may not be what the legislature wanted. Enforcement should be left to the executive, but it is hardly ideal when the intent of the law must be interpreted. The bureaucracy may read too much into the statute. The regulatory rules and procedures continue to grow because of poorly structured laws.

If we want less bureaucratic intrusion, then taxpayers and voters need to hold every legislative body accountable for its sloppy work. Much of this hesitancy to craft specific legislation is due to our political polarization. The people who we are sending to these bodies are more interested in being representatives for their political parties than for their constituents. Without buy-in from both sides of the aisle, then only bills without specifics can be passed.

Once passed, a badly written bill results in the executive regulatory agency having to write extensive regulations in order…