AB317: Bill Text

LRB-1207/1

MED:emw

2017 - 2018 LEGISLATURE

2017 Assembly BILL 317

May 12, 2017 - Introduced by Representatives Ballweg, Allen, Bernier, R. Brooks, Edming, Felzkowski, Gannon, Horlacher, Hutton, Katsma, Kitchens, Kleefisch, Knodl, Kremer, Kuglitsch, Kulp, Loudenbeck, Murphy, Mursau, Nerison, Neylon, Ott, Petryk, Quinn, Ripp, Rodriguez, Rohrkaste, Skowronski, Snyder, Spiros, Steineke, Swearingen, Tauchen, Thiesfeldt, Tittl, Vorpagel, Vos, Weatherston, Wichgers and Zimmerman, cosponsored by Senators Nass, Darling and Kapenga. Referred to Committee on State Affairs.

AB317,1,6 An Act to amend 227.135 (2); and to create 13.92 (2) (jg), 35.93 (2) (b) 3. fm., 35.93 (2) (b) 3. gm., 227.138, 227.26 (4) and 227.29 of the statutes; relating to: review by state agencies of administrative rules and enactments; an expedited process for repealing rules an agency no longer has the authority to promulgate; retrospective economic impact analyses for rules; and reporting by the Legislative Reference Bureau on rules in need of revision.

Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau

Current law

Current law sets forth the procedure for promulgating administrative rules. Generally, that procedure consists of the following steps:

1. The agency planning to promulgate the rule prepares a statement of the scope of the proposed rule, which must be approved by the governor and the agency head before any state employee or official may perform any activity in connection with the drafting of the proposed rule.

2. The agency drafts the proposed rule, together with an economic impact analysis, plain-language analysis, and fiscal estimate for the proposed rule, and submits those materials to the Legislative Council Staff for review.

3. Subject to certain exceptions, a public hearing is held on the proposed rule.

4. The final draft of the proposed rule is submitted to the governor for approval.

5. The final draft of the proposed rule, together with the economic impact analysis, plain-language analysis, and fiscal estimate for the proposed rule, are submitted to the legislature for review by one standing committee in each house and by the Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules (JCRAR).

6. The proposed rule is filed with the Legislative Reference Bureau (LRB) for publication in the Wisconsin Administrative Register, and, subject to certain exceptions, the rule becomes effective on the first day of the first month beginning after publication of the revised chapters of the Wisconsin Administrative Code (code).

The bill

Expedited procedure for repealing unauthorized rules

This bill provides for an alternate, expedited procedure an agency can use to repeal a rule that the agency determines it no longer has the authority to promulgate because of the repeal or amendment of the law that previously authorized its promulgation (unauthorized rule). Under the bill, an agency, instead of using the procedure described above, may promulgate a rule that repeals an unauthorized rule using the following procedure:

1. The agency submits a petition with a proposed rule that repeals a rule the agency has determined is an unauthorized rule to the Legislative Council Staff for review, along with certain information and a statement that the agency is petitioning JCRAR to use the expedited procedure to repeal a rule the agency has determined to be an unauthorized rule.

2. The Legislative Council Staff reviews the petition and proposed rule and submits to JCRAR the petition and proposed rule with a written report that includes a statement of the Legislative Council Staff's determination of whether the proposed rule proposes to repeal an unauthorized rule.

3. Following receipt of the petition and proposed rule submitted by the Legislative Council Staff, JCRAR reviews the petition and proposed rule and may 1) approve the agency's petition if JCRAR determines that the proposed rule would repeal an unauthorized rule; 2) deny the petition; or 3) request that the agency make changes to the proposed rule and resubmit the petition and proposed rule as described above.

If JCRAR approves the petition, the agency must promulgate the proposed rule to repeal the unauthorized rule by filing a certified copy of the rule with the LRB, together with a copy of JCRAR's decision.

Agency review of rules

The bill requires each agency with any rules published in the code to biennially submit a report to JCRAR listing all of the following rules promulgated or otherwise administered by that agency:

1. Unauthorized rules.

2. Rules for which the authority to promulgate has been restricted.

3. Rules that are obsolete or that have been rendered unnecessary.

4. Rules that are duplicative of, superseded by, or in conflict with another rule, a state statute, a federal statute or regulation, or a court ruling.

5. Economically burdensome rules.

The report must also include 1) a description of the agency's actions, if any, to address each rule listed in the report and, if the agency has not taken any action to address a rule listed in the report, an explanation for not taking action; 2) a description of the status of each rule listed in the previous year's report not otherwise listed; and 3) if the agency determines that there are no such rules to list, a statement of that determination.

If an agency identifies an unauthorized rule in the report, the bill requires the agency to submit a petition to repeal the unauthorized rule, using the process described above, within 30 days after the report.

Agency review of legislative enactments

The bill requires agencies to review enactments of the legislature (acts) to determine whether any part of an act results in any of the following consequences:

1. Eliminates or restricts the agency's authority to promulgate any of the agency's rules.

2. Renders any of the agency's rules obsolete or unnecessary.

3. Renders, for any reason, any of the agency's rules not in conformity with or superseded by a state statute, including due to statutory numbering or terminology changes in the act.

4. Requires or otherwise necessitates rule making by the agency.

If an agency determines that any such consequence results from an act, within six months after the act's effective date, the agency must do one or more of the following, as applicable, to address any consequence identified by the agency:

1. Submit a statement of the scope of a proposed rule to address any such consequence to the governor, unless the act requires otherwise or unless the agency submits a notice to JCRAR explaining why it is unable to submit the statement of scope within that time period and an estimate of when the agency plans to submit the statement of scope.

2. Submit a petition to use the expedited procedure described above for repealing an unauthorized rule to the Legislative Council Staff.

3. Submit a request to the LRB for the LRB to use its revision authority to make certain changes to the code.

Biennial report by Legislative Reference Bureau

The bill requires the LRB to biennially report to JCRAR regarding rules in the code that the LRB has identified as possibly being in need of revision.

Retrospective economic impact analyses for existing rules

The bill allows JCRAR to direct an agency to prepare a retrospective economic impact analysis for any of an agency's rules that are published in the code. JCRAR may identify one or more specific chapters, sections, or other subunits in the code that are administered by the agency as the rules that are to be the subject of the analysis and may specify a deadline for the preparation of the analysis. An agency must include in a retrospective economic impact analysis a comparison of the actual economic effect of the rules to any economic impact analysis that analyzed the economic effect of the rules when they were proposed. The bill otherwise requires an agency to prepare a retrospective economic impact analysis in a manner similar to that prescribed for an economic impact analysis for a proposed rule.

For further information see the state fiscal estimate, which will be printed as an appendix to this bill.

The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:

AB317,1 Section 1. 13.92 (2) (jg) of the statutes is created to read:

AB317,4,4 13.92 (2) (jg) Prior to the end of each even-numbered year, report to the joint committee for review of administrative rules regarding rules in the Wisconsin administrative code that the chief has identified as possibly being in need of revision.

AB317,2 Section 2. 35.93 (2) (b) 3. fm. of the statutes is created to read:

AB317,4,7 35.93 (2) (b) 3. fm. Retrospective economic impact analyses for rules under s. 227.138.

AB317,3 Section 3. 35.93 (2) (b) 3. gm. of the statutes is created to read:

AB317,4,10 35.93 (2) (b) 3. gm. Petitions and proposed rules submitted under s. 227.26 (4) (b) 1.

AB317,4 Section 4. 227.135 (2) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB317,5,6 227.135 (2) An agency that has prepared a statement of the scope of the proposed rule shall present the statement to the governor and to the individual or body with policy-making powers over the subject matter of the proposed rule for approval. The agency may not send the statement to the legislative reference bureau for publication under sub. (3) until the governor issues a written notice of approval of the statement. The individual or body with policy-making powers may not approve the statement until at least 10 days after publication of the statement under sub. (3). No state employee or official may perform any activity in connection with the drafting of a proposed rule, except for an activity necessary to prepare the statement of the scope of the proposed rule until the governor and the individual or body with policy-making powers over the subject matter of the proposed rule approve the statement. This subsection does not prohibit an agency from performing an activity necessary to prepare a petition and proposed rule for submission under s. 227.26 (4).

AB317,5 Section 5. 227.138 of the statutes is created to read:

AB317,5,25 227.138 Retrospective economic impact analyses for rules. (1) The joint committee for review of administrative rules may direct an agency to prepare a retrospective economic impact analysis for any of an agency's rules that are published in the code. The committee may identify one or more specific chapters, sections, or other subunits in the code that are administered by the agency as the rules that are to be the subject of the analysis and may specify a deadline for the preparation of the analysis. A retrospective economic impact analysis shall contain information on the economic effect of the rules on specific businesses, business sectors, public utility ratepayers, local governmental units, and the state's economy as a whole. When preparing the analysis, the agency shall solicit information and advice from businesses, associations representing businesses, local governmental units, and individuals that have been affected by the rules. The agency shall prepare the retrospective economic impact analysis in coordination with local governmental units that have been affected by the rules. The agency may request information that is reasonably necessary for the preparation of a retrospective economic impact analysis from other businesses, associations, local governmental units, and individuals and from other agencies. The retrospective economic impact analysis shall include all of the following:

AB317,6,4 (a) An analysis and quantification of the policy problem that the rules were intended to address, including comparisons with the approaches used by the federal government and by Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, and Minnesota to address that policy problem.

AB317,6,8 (b) An analysis and detailed quantification of the economic impact of the rules, including the implementation and compliance costs that have been incurred by or passed along to the businesses, local governmental units, and individuals that have been affected by the rules.

AB317,6,11 (c) An analysis of the actual and quantifiable benefits of the rules, including an assessment of how effective the rules have been in addressing the policy problem that the rules were intended to address.

AB317,6,13 (d) An analysis of alternatives to the rules, including the alternative of repealing the rules.

AB317,6,18 (e) A determination made in consultation with the businesses, local governmental units, and individuals that have been affected by the rules as to whether the rules have adversely affected in a material way the economy, a sector of the economy, productivity, jobs, or the overall economic competitiveness of this state.