Missouri Senate

Senate Substitute

This act provides that every state administrative rule shall be subject to a periodic review by the appropriate state agency every five years. The act creates a schedule for the periodic review of rules by their title in the Code of State Regulations. The Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR) shall cause notice to be published in the Missouri Register indicating the rules to be reviewed and also notice of the 60 day comment period. Each agency with rules under review shall prepare a report with the results of the periodic rule review. The report shall consider whether the rule: continues to be necessary or is obsolete; duplicates, overlaps or conflicts with other state, federal or local rules; needs changes or should be rescinded in order to reduce regulatory burdens on businesses, individuals or political subdivisions, or to eliminate unnecessary paperwork; and whether a less restrictive, more narrowly tailored rule could adequately protect the public or accomplish the same statutory purpose. For rules that affect small business, the agency must consider the specific public purpose or interest for adopting the rules and other reasons to justify its continued existence.

The subject agency must file its report with JCAR and the Small Business Regulatory Fairness Board within one year of notice being filed by JCAR in the Missouri Register. If the agency does not file the report, and does not receive an extension for good cause, then JCAR must notify the Secretary of State to publish notice in the Register as to the rules that are delinquent. The rules shall be void after the first sixty legislative days of the General Assembly's next regular session unless the agency cures the delinquency by providing the required report within 90 days after publication in the Register.

If a petition is filed with an agency requesting the adoption of a rule, and the agency does not promulgate such a rule, and it is later found by an adjudicatory body that a state agency's statement of general applicability, which is the subject of the petition, should have been promulgated as a rule, then the adjudicatory body shall award the petitioner its reasonable fees and expenses.

This act provides that when a court awards attorney fees and other expenses against a state agency, including an award for reasonable fees and expenses under this act when it is found that an agency should have promulgated a rule, such award shall be payable from amounts appropriated to the agency for its operations. Within thirty days of the judgement awarding the fees and expenses becoming final, the agency shall forward notification of the amount of awarded fees and expenses to the chairs of the House Budget Committee and the Senate Appropriations Committee.

This provision is similar to SB 604 (2012) and SB 272 (2011).

The act removes the requirement in current law that every agency with rules that affect small business must submit a list of such rules and a report to the General Assembly the and Small Business Regulatory Fairness Board every two years. This report contains the same information required in bill as part of the periodic review of all administrative rules.

This act is similar to SB 350 (2011) and HCS/HB 697 (2011).

JIM ERTLE