Relating to the rulemaking process for executive branch agencies and including transition provisions

Current law provides that only notices of intended action and rules filed without notice are subject to this requirement. The bill authorizes an agency to establish alternative procedures for providing public access to an electronic or printed copy of a publication containing standards adopted by reference in rulemaking if the publication is proprietary or contains proprietary information. Current statutory procedures provide for publication on the general assembly’s internet site or depositing a printed copy in the state law library. The bill requires agencies to submit petitions for rulemaking and the disposition of such petitions to the administrative rules review committee (ARRC). The bill modifies the terms of office of ARRC members by providing that terms for members of the house of representatives commence at the convening of a regular session convened in an odd-numbered year and end at the convening of the following general assembly. Terms for members of the senate commence at the convening of a regular session convened in an odd-numbered year and end at the convening of the general assembly after the following general assembly. Under current law terms of office for all members last four years commencing on May with appointments made prior to the adjournment of a regular session convened in an odd-numbered year. The bill provides that current terms of ARRC members continue until the convening of the 2021 regular session of the general assembly. The bill provides that the ARRC may establish an alternative date for its regular monthly meeting.5, subsection 2, paragraph “b”, subparagraph 1, within days of the publication of the rule in the Iowa administrative bulletin. Under current law, the ARRC may do so within days of the rule’s effective date. The bill revises language on procedures relating to delays of effective dates of rules and suspension of applicability of rules by the ARRC until the adjournment of the next regular session of the general assembly by replacing references to joint resolutions disapproving of rules with references to nullification of rules.8. The bill modifies requirements for waiver or variance of rules by agencies by striking references to variances. The bill strikes a requirement that agencies submit semiannual reports on waivers of rules to the administrative rules coordinator and the administrative rules review committee. The bill requires that agencies submit information regarding a waiver on an internet site devised by the administrative rules coordinator within days of granting or denying the waiver. The bill standardizes terminology referring to adoption of rules throughout Code chapter 17A.