SF 2125 (LSB 5484XS (7) 85)

SENATE FILE 2125

BY  CHAPMAN, ANDERSON, SINCLAIR, JOHNSON, FEENSTRA, ROZENBOOM, GREINER, ERNST, KAPUCIAN, BREITBACH, CHELGREN, BOETTGER, and BEHN

A BILL FOR

An Act providing for a fiscal analysis of all proposed rules and a process for a review and prospective five-year recision of existing rules.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 17A.4, subsection 2, Code 2014, is amended to read as follows:
   2.  a.  An agency shall include in a preamble to each rule it adopts a brief explanation of the principal reasons for its action and, if applicable, a brief explanation of the principal reasons for its failure to provide in that rule for the waiver of the rule in specified situations if no such waiver provision is included in the rule. This explanatory requirement does not apply when the agency adopts a rule that only defines the meaning of a provision of law if the agency does not possess delegated authority to bind the courts to any extent with its definition. In addition, if If requested to do so by an interested person, either prior to adoption or within thirty days thereafter, the agency shall issue a concise statement of the principal reasons for and against the rule adopted, incorporating therein the reasons for overruling considerations urged against the rule. This concise statement shall be issued either at the time of the adoption of the rule or within thirty-five days after the agency receives the request.
   b.  Each agency shall include in a preamble to each notice of intended action, or rule adopted without prior notice and an opportunity for public participation:
   (1)  A brief explanation of the principal reasons for its action and, if applicable, a brief explanation of the principal reasons for its failure to provide in that rule for the waiver of the rule in specified situations if no such waiver provision is included in the rule. This explanatory requirement does not apply when the agency adopts a rule that only defines the meaning of a provision of law if the agency does not possess delegated authority to bind the courts to any extent with its definition.
   (2)  A financial impact statement that details the benefits anticipated from the proposed rule and the costs of implementation and compliance on both the agency and those persons impacted by the rule.
   (a)  If the agency has made a good-faith effort to comply with the requirements of this subparagraph, the rule may not be invalidated on the ground that the contents of the statement are insufficient or inaccurate.
   (b)  A member of the general assembly may request that the statement be reviewed, and its accuracy confirmed, by the legislative services agency.
    Sec. 2.  Section 17A.7, subsection 2, Code 2014, is amended by striking the subsection and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
   2.  a.  A rule is rescinded five years after the initial effective date of the rule, excluding the effective dates of subsequent amendments. For rules that are in effect on July 1, 2014, the recision date is July 1, 2019.
   b.  An agency may publish a notice of intended action to readopt a rule subject to this subsection.
   c.  (1)  Twelve months prior to the notice referred to in paragraph “b”, the agency shall publish in the Iowa administrative bulletin a review of the rule which shall include the financial impact statement required pursuant to section 17A.3, subsection 2, paragraph “b”, and the actual cost of implementation and compliance since adoption. The review shall also project the cost of continuance of the rule. The agency shall provide a copy of the review to the administrative rules coordinator and the administrative rules review committee.
   (2)  Each analysis included in the review shall be conducted by the agency intending to readopt the rule, in consultation with major stakeholders and constituent groups. If the noticed rule has an annual financial impact of at least one hundred thousand dollars, the agency’s review shall be analyzed by the legislative services agency in order to confirm the accuracy of the review.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with

the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This bill requires that each notice of intended action to adopt an administrative rule, or each “emergency” adopted rule, contain a financial impact statement that details the benefits anticipated from the rule, the costs of implementation and compliance on both the agency and those persons impacted. The statement must be included in the preamble to the rulemaking document. The agency is required to make a good-faith effort to prepare the statement. A member of the General Assembly may request that the statement be reviewed for accuracy by the legislative services agency.
   Existing provisions relating to a concise statement of reasons for adoption of a rule are moved to the bill’s new provision and applied to proposed rules.
   The bill strikes existing provisions relating to the periodic review of existing rules, substituting provisions for a five-year sunset for all rules. Rules can be readopted, accompanied by an agency review outlining the costs associated with the rule. The legislative services agency is required to analyze an agency’s review if the annual financial impact of a noticed rule is at least $100,000.