The Iowa Legislature could reinforce the integrity of our legal system and uphold the tradition of impartial decision-making, essential for maintaining public trust.
Iowa lawmakers are considering ways to reduce agency deference as this year’s legislative session gets closer to the finish line. That’s why we were excited to read about our Midwestern neighbors in Indiana making progress to ensure that state’s government is more accountable to the people. Our friend, Kileen Lindgren of Pacific Legal Foundation, wrote an excellent article published by The Center Square that outlines three important bills that will further ensure officials in the Hoosier State are not abusing their power.
Ms. Lindgren had this to say about agency deference (and House Bill 1003 specifically) in Indiana:
House Bill 1003, brought by Rep. Gregory Steuerwald, ensures the deck is not stacked in favor of government agencies and ensures Indianans get their fair day in court in three important ways.
It requires judges to decide cases based only on the law. They must not defer to government agencies’ interpretations of statutes or regulations. It raises the burden of proof for agencies in court. It also strips authority from agencies to rewrite decisions of independent administrative law judges, so agency heads can’t interfere with or undo the outcome.
For decades, judges at the federal and state levels have wrongly deferred to regulatory agencies’ interpretations of state laws, agency regulations, and agencies’ factual determinations when bringing enforcement actions against Americans. In showing “deference,” judges abdicate their duty to “say what the law is.”
This goes against the adversarial system of adjudication that has been central to American legal tradition for centuries. Judges must not only hear both sides of a case before making a decision; they must listen without systematically favoring any party. Courts should be in the business of adhering to their constitutional duties, not colluding with government agencies.
With HB 1003, Indiana joins the states pushing back against the unconstitutional tide that has flooded the nation since the Supreme Court’s infamous Chevron decision in 1984. The Court is poised to overturn “Chevron deference at the federal level,” but states must ensure their own courts act fairly and justly.
As Iowa considers a similar measure, the Iowa Legislature could reinforce the integrity of our legal system and uphold the tradition of impartial decision-making, essential for maintaining public trust and justice. It would be one more way to prioritize the citizen ahead of the government, and continue the trend of codifying limited government advances in the Hawkeye State.
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