H. B. 2780
(By Delegate Louisos)
[Introduced March 7, 2001; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section eleven, article three, chapter
twenty-nine-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended; and to further amend said
article by adding thereto a new section, designated section
ten-a, all relating to creation of citizens' oversight review
committee for legislative rule making.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section eleven, article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of
the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted; and that said article be further
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section ten-a,
all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. RULE MAKING.
§29A-3-10a. Creation of an oversight rule-making review committee.
(a) There is hereby created an oversight rule-making review committee, known as the citizen's oversight rule-making review
committee, to review all legislative rules of the several agencies
and other rules as the committee considers appropriate. The
committee shall be composed of six members, all of whom shall be
appointed by the governor. Three members shall be members of the
general public residing in this state and three shall be citizens
of this state with professional backgrounds in business and
commerce. Not more than four of the members of the committee may
be members of the same political party. The members shall serve
until their successors are appointed as heretofore provided.
Members of the committee shall receive compensation and expenses as
provided in article two-a, chapter four of this code. The
expenses, including those incurred in the employment of legal,
technical, investigative, clerical, stenographic, advisory and
other personnel, shall be paid from an appropriation to be made
expressly for the citizen oversight rule-making review committee.
The committee shall meet at any time, both during sessions of the
Legislature and in the interim.
(b) The committee may adopt rules of procedure as it considers
necessary for the submission, presentation and consideration of
rules.
§29A-3-11. Submission of legislative rules to the citizens'
economic rule-making review committee and the
legislative rule-making review committee.
(a) When an agency finally approves a proposed legislative
rule for submission to the Legislature, pursuant to the provisions
of section nine of this article, the secretary of the executive
department which administers the agency pursuant to the provisions
of article two, chapter five-f of this code shall submit to the
citizens' oversight rule-making review committee and to the
legislative rule-making review committee each, at its their
respective offices or at a regular meeting of such committee
fifteen copies of: (1) The full text of the legislative rule as
finally approved by the agency, with new language underlined and
with language to be deleted from any existing rule stricken through
but clearly legible; (2) a brief summary of the content of the
legislative rule and a description and a copy of any existing rule
which the agency proposes to amend or repeal; (3) a statement of
the circumstances which require the rule; (4) a fiscal note
containing all information included in a fiscal note for either
house of the Legislature and a statement of the economic impact of
the rule on the state or its residents; (5) one copy of any
relevant federal statutes or regulations; and (6) any other
information which the committee may request or which may be
required by law. If the agency is an agency, board or commission
which is not administered by an executive department as provided
for in article two, chapter five-f of this code, the agency shall
submit the final agency-approved rule as required by this subsection.
(b) The Each committee shall review each proposed legislative
rule and, in its discretion, may hold public hearings thereon.
Such review shall include, but not be limited to, a determination
of:
(1) Whether the agency has exceeded the scope of its statutory
authority in approving the proposed legislative rule;
(2) Whether the proposed legislative rule is in conformity
with the legislative intent of the statute which the rule is
intended to implement, extend, apply, interpret or make specific;
(3) Whether the proposed legislative rule conflicts with any
other provision of this code or with any other rule adopted by the
same or a different agency;
(4) Whether the proposed legislative rule is necessary to
fully accomplish the objectives of the statute under which the rule
was proposed for promulgation;
(5) Whether the proposed legislative rule is reasonable,
especially as it affects the convenience of the general public or
of persons particularly affected by it;
(6) Whether the proposed legislative rule could be made less
complex or more readily understandable by the general public; and
(7) Whether the proposed legislative rule was proposed for
promulgation in compliance with the requirements of this article
and with any requirements imposed by any other provision of this code: and
(8) Whether there will be an adverse economic impact to
business and industry and whether, given all the circumstances
involving the intended benefit of the rule, the adverse economic
impact creates a greater harm than the intended benefit could
reasonably be expected to offset.
(c) The citizens' oversight rule-making review committee, if
it considers same to be appropriate, shall perform an economic
impact study which shall set forth findings and conclusions
relative to the perceived economic benefit or harm that likely
would ensue from implementation of the proposed rule. No action
may be taken on any proposed rule by the legislative rule-making
review committee until a study is completed and submitted to it
from the citizens' oversight rule-making review committee in the
event the citizens' oversight rule-making review committee has
determined such a study is appropriate: Provided, That in the
event the citizens' oversight rule-making review committee
considers it appropriate to conduct an economic impact study of a
rule, it shall complete and submit the study to the legislative
rule-making review committee no later than ninety days after the
initial proposal of the rule by the governmental agency.
After reviewing the legislative rule, the legislative
rule-making review committee shall recommend that the Legislature:
(1) Authorize the promulgation of the legislative rule; or
(2) Authorize the promulgation of part of the legislative
rule; or
(3) Authorize the promulgation of the legislative rule with
certain amendments; or
(4) Recommend that the proposed rule be withdrawn.
The committee shall file notice of its action in the state
register and with the agency proposing the rule: Provided, That
when the committee makes the recommendations of subdivision (2),
(3) or (4) of this subsection, the notice shall contain a statement
of the reasons for such recommendation.
(d) When the committee recommends that a rule be authorized,
in whole or in part, by the Legislature, the committee shall
instruct its staff or the office of legislative services to draft
a bill authorizing the promulgation of all or part of the
legislative rule and incorporating such amendments as the committee
desires. If the committee recommends that the rule not be
authorized, it shall include in its report a draft of a bill
authorizing promulgation of the rule together with a
recommendation. Any draft bill prepared under this section shall
contain a legislative finding that the rule is within the
legislative intent of the statute which the rule is intended to
implement, extend, apply or interpret and shall be available for
any member of the Legislature to introduce to the Legislature.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to create the citizens'
economic rule-making review committee. The committee is comprised
of three members from the general public and three members with
business backgrounds. The committee's job is to review proposed
legislative rules and conduct economic impact studies and report to
the Legislative rule-making review committee concerning its
conclusions.
§29A-3-10a is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring
have been omitted.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.