The House State Government Committee Tuesday amended and approved House Bill 1237 (Keefer-R-York) that would allow the General Assembly to kill an economically significant final regulation from any agency by doing nothing.

This bill and others acted on by the Committee were approved by party-line votes, Republicans supporting.

A second bill-- House Bill 1960 (Ellis-R-Butler) which requires each agency to appoint a Regulatory Compliance Officer with the authority to waive fines and penalties if a permit holder attempts to comply-- was also reported to the full House.

A third bill-- House Bill 209 (Phillips-Hill-R-York) which establishes the Independent Office of the Repealer to undertake an ongoing review of existing regulations; receive and process recommendations; and make recommendations to the General Assembly, the governor, and executive agencies for repeal-- was amended in Committee, but held because members had to report to the House Floor for session.

These three bills were part of a 5 bill package of regulatory and permit reform proposals that came out of the Committee’s report on Regulatory Overreach released January 16.

With respect to “reforming” the way regulations are adopted, a review of how often House and Senate standing committees and the General Assembly use the regulatory review tools they have now clearly shows they don’t use them very often or even comment on regulations that much.  Click Here for more.

The General Assembly can also pass an actual law at any time to undo any regulation they want.

More Details On Changes Made

-- Kill A Regulation By Doing Nothing: House Bill 1237 (Keefer-R-York) The General Assembly would be required to vote on a concurrent resolution to approve an economically significant regulation (which has an annual fiscal impact totaling $1 million or more on the government or private sector), in order for that regulation to go into effect.  If the General Assembly does nothing, the regulation cannot go into effect.  Click Here for more.

The bill was amended to--

     -- Regulations Deemed Withdraw If No Statutory Basis: Requires agencies to point to specific provisions in statute that allow them to adopt the specific provision in a regulation.  A regulation is deemed withdrawn if there is no provision in state law adopting that specific regulation; and

     -- Delay Consideration Of Final Regs: Authorizes committees to delay consideration of a final regulation by the Independent Regulatory Review Commission by up to 30 days simply by saying they disapprove a regulation or intend to further review a regulation.

This legislation is similar to a bill-- Senate Bill 561 (DiSanto-R-Dauphin)-- passed by the Senate on June 13 by a party-line vote (Republicans supporting) allowing the General Assembly to kill regulations by doing nothing.  It is also in the House State Government Committee.

-- New Office of The Repealer/Moratorium On New Regulations: House Bill 209 (Phillips-Hill-R-York): Establishes the Independent Office of the Repealer to undertake an ongoing review of existing regulations; receive and process recommendations; and make recommendations to the General Assembly, the governor, and executive agencies for repeal. 

The Committee adopted a gut and replace amendment to House Bill 209 that makes the Office a Commonwealth agency subject to the Right To Know Law.

No Action Yet

The Committee did not take action yet on the other bills on the agenda--

-- Taking Permit Reviews Away From State Agencies Giving It To Third Parties: House Bill 1959 (Rothman-R-Cumberland) Establishes the Pennsylvania Permit Act which requires agencies to create and develop a navigable online permit tracking system and takes authority to issue certain permits away from state agencies and gives it to third-party reviewers.  Click Here for more.

-- Repeal Any Regulation By Resolution: House Bill 1792 (Benninghoff-R-Mifflin) Gives the General Assembly the ability to initiate the repeal of any state regulation in effect by a concurrent resolution modeled after a federal procedure used successfully by the Trump Administration to repeal regulations (sponsor summary).

Click Here to watch a video of the meeting.

Rep. Daryl Metcalfe (R-Butler) serves as Majority Chair of the Committee and can be contacted by sending email to: dmetcalf@pahousegop.com.   Rep. Matthew Bradford (D-Montgomery) serves as Minority Chair and can be contacted by sending email to: mbradford@pahouse.net.

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[Posted: Jan. 31, 2018]

2/12/2018