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Senate committee approves amendments to modernize administrative-rules process in SB 486
Summary
Lawmakers advanced SB 486, a bill described by its sponsor as housekeeping to streamline administrative-rule updates and allow interim rules to take effect when statutes change; a committee amendment on interim rule timing was adopted and the bill was moved out of committee.
The Senate Executive Departments & Administration Committee on Jan. 14 advanced Senate Bill 486, which sponsors said is designed to modernize and clarify the state's administrative-rules process so agencies can implement legislative changes without repeated full rulemaking.
Sponsor Senator Tim Lang told the committee the bill targets technical and procedural friction in RSA-administered rules after lawmakers change statute. Lang used a small fee change as an example, saying the prior statutory structure could require agencies to open an expensive rulemaking process even when the legislature merely changed a numeric amount.
"If you're doing a non-substantive change like that, you're not actually changing anything other than the legislature changed the price," Lang said, urging an expedited process to save the state money. Douglas Osterhauer, identified as director of the division of administrative rules, told the committee the bill largely redrafts the statute for readability while preserving citations and substantive placement of provisions so "old citations, nothing's gonna get jumbled." He supplied written testimony to the committee.
The committee adopted a proposed committee amendment on interim rules that would allow agencies to promulgate interim rules to align with laws effective "upon passage" while ensuring the rule takes effect only when the statute becomes effective. Committee members voted to adopt the committee amendment and to move SB 486 forward as amended.
What happens next: SB 486, as amended, will move to the next steps in the legislative process for floor or further committee consideration. The committee closed public testimony on the measure after hearing the sponsor and administration testimony.
