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DFM official briefs Senate Health and Welfare on rulemaking process; committee readies review of Health and Welfare rules
Summary
A Division of Financial Management official explained the five-step rulemaking process, the difference between temporary and pending rules, and where to find rule documents. The committee was told pending rules would take effect July 1, 2025, and that temporary rules may bridge the gap through sine die.
Lauren Meiser (identified in the hearing as a DFM bureau chief overseeing rulemaking) briefed the Senate Health and Welfare Committee on the state rulemaking process and how committee members can review temporary, proposed and pending rules.
Meiser said the authority for agencies to adopt rules comes from statute and that agencies must follow the Administrative Procedures Act (Title 67, Chapter 52 of Idaho Code). She described the five-step process agencies typically follow: initial notice of negotiated rulemaking, drafting the proposed rule, publishing for public comment, placing the pending rule for legislative review, and adoption of final rules (which generally take effect July 1 of the following year).
Meiser spent substantial time on temporary rules and the planning gap the committee sees this year: some temporary rules are in effect now and will remain so from sine die until pending rules become final on July 1, 2025. She said when an agency promulgates a temporary rule it typically concurrently begins the proposed/pending rule process so that pending rules can replace temporary rules when they become final.
She walked the committee through the materials in members— rule books: notice of rule making, notices of adoption, fee summaries, authority citations, and fiscal-impact statements for changes with negative impacts of $10,000 or more. Meiser urged members to use the blue/red edit markers in the rule books (blue = stricken text, red = new text) and said the DFM rule team is available to help members access rules through adminrules.idaho.gov or the legislature—s website.
Meiser named members of her support team present at the hearing (Brad Hunt, rules coordinator; Logan, rules specialist; Margaret, staff) and drew attention to the governor—s Town Hall Idaho portal as another transparency tool. She also noted the governor—s zero-based regulation effort is in its final year and that legislative periodic review of administrative rules will be codified in statute beginning in 2026 on an eight-year cycle.
Committee members asked clarifying questions about temporary rules, and Meiser explained that most temporary rules in the committee—s temporary rule book have corresponding pending rules already in the pending rule book. She said staff will be available to assist the committee during the next-day review session.
The committee will begin review of Health and Welfare—s pending rules at the next meeting and expects DFM staff to attend and assist.
