Senate committee recommends two‑year continuation for Governor’s Regulatory Review Council after audit flags process gaps

The Senate Government Committee of Reference recommended the continuation of the Governor’s Regulatory Review Council (GURC) for two years on a 4‑3 vote after hearing an Auditor General performance audit that identified administrative shortcomings in the council’s rule‑review processes.

The audit presentation, delivered by contractor Sjoberg Avishing Consulting and summarized by Nicole Dyer, said GURC lacked a formal system to track receipt, completion and timeliness of rule‑review and five‑year review requests, had failed to send required 90‑day notices for two sampled reports, and produced executive‑session recordings missing statutorily required details. Dyer said those gaps “increase the risk that the council could miss a rule review, or that reviews may not [be] completed within the 120‑day timeframe.”

Why it matters: GURC is the state body charged with ensuring administrative rules are authorized by statute and not inconsistent with legislative intent; failures in its oversight can allow outdated or unauthorized rules to remain in effect or be adopted without sufficient review.

Dyer told the committee that between January 2021 and December 2023 the…