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Senate panel receives rules primer as Health and Welfare rulebooks head to review
Summary
A Department of Financial Management official explained the state rulemaking hierarchy and the difference between temporary, pending and final rules to the Senate Health and Welfare Committee as the panel prepared to review Health and Welfare rules the following day.
The Senate Health and Welfare Committee received an overview of Idaho's administrative rulemaking process and the items it will review from the Department of Health and Welfare.
Lauren Smizer, identified as bureau chief in the Department of Financial Management's rules office, told the committee the rulemaking hierarchy is led by the Idaho Constitution, followed by statutes, agency rules, and then policies and procedures. "The authority to adopt rules comes from statute," Smizer said, and agencies must follow the Administrative Procedures Act (Title 67, Chapter 52 of Idaho Code) when promulgating rules.
Smizer explained the main rule categories the committee will see: proposed rules (first drafts), pending rules (final draft for legislative review), final rules (normally effective July 1 following approval) and temporary rules. She said temporary rules often remain in effect from sine die until July 1 and typically have a corresponding pending rule that went through the public-notice process.
She described the five-step process that agencies follow: negotiated rulemaking and stakeholder outreach, drafting the proposed rule, publication and a public-comment period (at least 21 days), adoption of a pending rule for legislative review, and finalization (generally effective July 1 unless the legislature's concurrent resolution states otherwise). Smizer said the pending rule books before the committee reflect prior stakeholder negotiations and that staff from her office will be available when the committee begins its rules review.
Smizer also called attention to practical review aids in the rulebooks: an authority citation (the statute giving the agency power to adopt the rule), a descriptive summary of changes, fee summaries, and notices of negative fiscal impact when over $10,000. She explained the color-coding convention used in the documents: blue text indicates language to be removed and red text indicates new language.
Committee members asked for clarification about the temporary-rule gap between sine die and July 1. Smizer explained that when an agency promulgates a temporary rule, it typically begins the pending-rule process concurrently; the temporary version remains in effect until a final rule becomes effective on July 1.
Smizer noted other rule-related developments: the governor's zero-based regulation review is concluding and, beginning in 2026, the legislature has codified a periodic review of administrative rules on roughly an eight-year cycle. She also pointed committee members to Town Hall Idaho as a public portal for executive-agency materials and hearings.
The chair said the committee will begin review of the Department of Health and Welfare's pending rules at the committee's next meeting. Smizer and her staff told senators they would be present to assist during the review sessions.
