Committee recommends 'do not pass' on bill narrowing agency rulemaking review

The State and Local Government Committee voted 4-2 to recommend a do-not-pass on House Bill 1368, which would have tightened legislative oversight of executive-branch administrative rules by allowing committees to reject rules on standards such as “unnecessary,” “unreasonable,” or “arbitrary and capricious.”

Supporters argued the change would give legislators a stronger check when administrative rules exceed statutory intent. Critics, including committee legal counsel and the department representative, warned that the proposed language would raise separation-of-powers questions and be too vague, creating risk that committees could overturn agency rulemaking broadly.

Allison Hicks, assistant attorney general, told the committee the bill would place staff or agency employees in the awkward position of having to negotiate policy decisions that are the elected agency head’s responsibility. Hicks and other counsel warned that concepts such as necessity or reasonableness could be interpreted so broadly that they would invite litigation and uncertainty.

After debate, Chair Rohrs and Senators Barta, Brownberger and Lee voted to recommend do not pass; Vice Chair Castaneda and Senator Wallen voted no on the do-not-pass motion (i.e., they opposed recommending do-not-pass). The clerk recorded the roll call as: Chair Rohrs — aye; Vice Chair Castaneda — no; Senator Barta — aye; Senator Brownberger — aye; Senator Lee — aye; Senator Wallen — no. The motion for do-not-pass therefore carried 4-2.

Committee members said aspects of the bill might be worth revisiting, but the consensus in committee was that the draft as written created legal and practical problems that outweighed potential benefits.