SB 1397: Restricting temporary rules – 2022

Senate Bill 1397, introduced by Senator Kelly Arthur Anthon (R-Burley) and co-sponsored by Representative Mike Moyle (R-Star), would prohibit the Governor and state agencies from issuing temporary rules for more than one year at a time, significantly limiting their authority to enact temporary rules.

Rulemaking is a critical function of state government and is required in order to implement state and federal statutes. If Idaho didn’t have appropriate administrative rules in place, the state could lose out on millions of dollars in federal funding, and permitting processes (and the industries that rely upon them) could come to a screeching halt.

If it becomes law, government agencies would have to go through the negotiated rulemaking process for all of their administrative rules, every year. The fiscal note on this bill states there would be no impact on the general fund but the added workload could end up costing the state millions of dollars by requiring full-blown rulemaking every year.

For years, some in the Idaho Legislature have sought to control the rulemaking process as defined in the Idaho Constitution by simply not approving administrative rules each session. Now they want to change the law so that they have even more power over administrative rules.

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The bill was sent to the Amending Order by the Senate Judiciary and Rules Committee, but was never considered for amendment.