Callender Chairs First JCARR Committee of the 135th General Assembly

COLUMBUS – State Representative Jamie Callender (R-Concord) chaired his first Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review Monday. Callender is serving his fifth term as the chair of JCARR, making him the most tenured member of the House to serve as Chair of the joint committee since it was created by the General Assembly in 1977. Callender joins former Senator Gary Suhadolnik, who served between 1981 and 1999, as five time chair of JCARR.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to one again serve as the Chair of JCARR” said Callender, “Ensuring that Ohio continues to prevent executive overreach and establishes an environment that enables both businesses and individuals to thrive has been the driving focus of my time on JCARR.”

The Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review is a bicameral committee responsible for establishing a legislative check on the agencies of the executive branch. Every new rule established by an administrative agency must come before JCARR to see if it meets legislative intent, not in conflict with an existing rule or one of the four other JCARR prongs. If a rule is found to be in violation of one of the JCARR prongs, the committee has the authority to invalidate the rule by joint resolution of the House and Senate. 

On top of the initial review of rules, JCARR conducts a five-year review on all rules currently adopted by administrative agencies. During this process, JCARR staff review the rule based on three prongs: did the agency not amend or rescind the rule based on the review standards, is the rule’s adverse impact on business not justifiable or did the rule fail to comply with the incorporated by reference standard. This is done to ensure that administrative rules remain relevant to their intended purpose and prevent overregulation. 

Under Callender’s chairmanship and vice-chairmanship during the 134th General Assembly, JCARR invalidated a rule from the Ohio Department of Education that would have removed entire subjects of study from the education provided by charter public and non-public schools. It also initiated a policy to rule violation against the Ohio Department of Commerce, informing the agency that they have six months to bring a rule before JCARR that had originally been department policy. 

With his appointment to a fifth term as chair of JCARR, Callender is able to continue his decades long effort to deregulate Ohio and prevent future executive overreach through administrative rules.