House committee sends Moyle bill to floor to require agency review of enabling statutes

Representative Mike Moyle, the bill sponsor, told the House State Affairs Committee that House Bill 14 would require state agencies to review their enabling legislation and identify provisions that are outdated, obsolete or unnecessary. "This bill takes the next step," Moyle said, describing the effort as part of a multi-year drive to limit rulemaking and make statutes easier to read.

The measure, Moyle said, directs agencies to complete a review of their enabling statutes by Sept. 1 of the coming year and to notify the Legislature of statutes that should be repealed or replaced. He told the committee the goal is to "clean up the code books" and give agencies the ability to flag additional statutes for consideration by other agencies during the review process.

Committee members said the bill would improve continuity in legislative policy and simplify statutory language without binding future legislatures. Representative Barbieri said the proposal would help ensure the Legislature maintains continuity in its policies while allowing successor legislatures to continue the work.

Representative Crane moved that the committee send House Bill 14 to the floor with a due-pass recommendation. With no further discussion recorded, the committee approved the motion by voice vote. The clerk recorded the motion as carried and the bill will be reported to the full House with a due-pass recommendation.

The bill establishes a statutory review process rather than changing particular statutes on first reading; agency reports and any proposed statutory changes would come later. Moyle said the review will be ongoing and may take time to complete.