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Senate Bill 100 -
Regulatory Reform: Scope Statement Expiration |
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Even though we continue to work on the 2017-19 state
budget and the Foxconn discussion has just begun, the
legislative process continues on many other important
pieces of legislation, both big and small. This week
Governor Scott Walker signed into law Senate Bill 100
that I authored along with Representative Adam Neylon
(2017 Wisconsin Act 39). |
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SB 100 is one more step on our agenda to reform the
regulatory climate in the state of Wisconsin. SB 100
will limit the duration of a scope statement authorizing
promulgation of an administrative rule to no more than
30 months. |
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As co-chairman of the Joint Committee for Review of
Administrative Rules (JCRAR), one of my priorities has
been to scrutinize new rules to ensure that they are
authorized by statute and absolutely necessary to
protect the public. We need to reduce the regulatory
burden on Wisconsin’s citizens and businesses. One of
the top concerns cited by many business owners around
our state is the cost and burden of overregulation. In
many cases they cite onerous regulations as an even
larger problem than tax levels. |
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Under current law, a state agency must submit a
statement of scope to the Governor for approval in order
to begin promulgating an administrative rule. The scope
statement must outline the objective of the rule,
provide a policy analysis of the rule, and demonstrate
that the agency has the statutory authority to
promulgate the rule. The Governor can either approve the
scope statement, allowing the rule process to move
forward, or reject it, in which case the agency cannot
continue with the new rule. |
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After the Governor approves a scope statement, it is
submitted to the Legislative Reference Bureau (LRB) for
publication in the Wisconsin Administrative Register.
Once a scope statement is approved under current law, it
never expires. The agency can move forward on it at any
time in the future, even if it is many years later. |
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This new law provides for the expiration of a scope
statement after 30 months (2.5 years). If an agency
wants to move forward with promulgating an
administrative rule based on an expired scope statement,
the agency would have to resubmit the scope statement
for approval by the Governor. All new scope statements
will expire 30 months after publication in the Wisconsin
Administrative Register. All existing scope statements
will expire 30 months after the bill is signed into law. |
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We want state agencies to move forward on necessary
rules in a timely manner based on current realities; not
indefinitely maintain rulemaking authority many years
after the fact. When agencies wait for years to
promulgate an administrative rule, the underlying
conditions that led to them being granted that authority
could have significantly changed. |
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As the JCRAR co-chairman, I have seen examples of state
agencies advancing rules on the basis of a scope
statement that was approved many, many years ago, by
different Legislatures and even a different Governor. In
one example, a proposed rule was held so long by the
agency that the underlying statute creating the rule had
already sunset. In another case, we received a DNR rule
in which the scope statement was filed almost 10 years
before submittal to the Legislature. |
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This bill will ensure that all new administrative rules
have up-to-date approval from the Governor, are based on
current and accurate information, and are acted on in a
timely manner. Expiration dates on scope statements will
lead to a more transparent and effective rulemaking
process by allowing for increased public involvement and
greater oversight by elected members of the legislative
and executive branches. |
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A link to 2017 Wisconsin Act 39 is
here. |
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