South Carolina General Assembly
107th Session, 1987-1988

Bill 172


                    Current Status

Bill Number:               172
Ratification Number:       679
Act Number                 592
Introducing Body:          Senate
Subject:                   Agency review; regulations
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(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

(A592, R679, S172)

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 1-20-10, 1-20-20, 1-20-40, 1-20-50, AS AMENDED, AND 1-20-60, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE PERIODIC REVIEW, SCHEDULED TERMINATION, AND REAUTHORIZATION OF STATE AGENCIES, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT THE PERIODIC REVIEW, SCHEDULED TERMINATION, AND REAUTHORIZATION SHALL INCLUDE REGULATIONS PROMULGATED BY THE AGENCIES.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

Agency review; regulations

SECTION 1. (A) Sections 1-20-10, 1-20-20, 1-20-40, and 1-20-60 of the 1976 Code are amended to read:

"Section 1-20-10. Twelve months before the termination date of an agency or board, the State Legislative Audit Council shall furnish to the State Reorganization Commission and any member of the General Assembly upon request a review and evaluation of the regulations promulgated by and the specific programs or functions administered by the agency or board. At minimum, the Audit Council must include within the scope of its review and evaluation information germane to the following issues:

(1) the amount of the increase or reduction of costs of goods and services caused by the regulations promulgated by and the administering of the programs or functions of the agency under review;

(2) economic, fiscal, and other impacts that would occur in the absence of the regulations promulgated by and the administering of the programs or functions of the agency under review;

(3) the overall cost, including manpower, of the agency under review;

(4) the efficiency of the administration of the programs or functions of the agency under review;

(5) the extent to which the agency under review has encouraged the participation of the public and, if applicable, the industry it regulates;

(6) the extent to which the agency duplicates the services, functions, and programs administered by any other state, federal, or other agency or entity;

(7) the efficiency with which formal public complaints filed with the agency concerning persons or industries subject to the regulation and administration of the agency under review have been processed;

(8) the extent to which the agency under review has complied with all applicable state, federal, and local statutes and regulations.

Section 1-20-20. Upon receipt of the Audit Council's review and evaluation, the Reorganization Commission shall hold a public hearing receiving testimony from the public, the executive administration, and other personnel of the agency under review and any other interested parties. The Reorganization Commission shall consider the fiscal and economic impact of the agency and its promulgated regulations as outlined in Section 1-20-10 and any other relevant issues. In the hearing the agency has the burden of demonstrating a public need for its continued existence and the continued existence of its promulgated regulations and of rebutting any reasonable proposal that would alter the then-existing structure of that agency. The standing committee chairmen, as designated in Section 1-20-40, shall sit in conjunction with the Reorganization Commission at the hearing, exercising the same voting and other rights afforded Reorganization Commission members at the hearing. Upon receipt of testimony at the hearing, and pursuant to any other research or inquiries it considers appropriate, the Reorganization Commission shall report its findings and conclusions to the presiding officers of the Senate and House. The presiding officers shall refer the report to the standing committees most concerned with the agency scheduled for termination, together with any recommendations as to:

(1) the transfer of the whole or any part of any agency or the whole or any part of the functions of the agency to the jurisdiction and control of any other agency;

(2) the consolidation, coordination, or combination of the whole or any part of any agency or the whole or any part of any other agency or the functions of the agency;

(3) the consolidation or coordination of any part of any agency or the functions of the agency;

(4) the redirection of any mission of the whole or any part of any agency or the functions of the agency;

(5) the abolition of any mission of the whole or any part of any agency or the functions of the agency; or

(6) the abolition of all or any part of the functions or structure of any agency or its promulgated regulations.

Section 1-20-40. Upon the effective date of this chapter, the Audit Council, the Reorganization Commission, and those chairmen of the standing committees that have jurisdiction over those particular agencies under review, as designated by the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House, shall meet and develop a criteria format and procedure for review of the agencies and their promulgated regulations.

In order to carry out the provisions of this chapter all state agencies or governmental entities shall cooperate by answering all information requests within a period of time specified by the Audit Council or the Reorganization Commission or, in an alternative format, approved in advance by the Audit Council or the Reorganization Commission.

The Audit Council or the Reorganization Commission may subpoena any relevant information, reports, or other data and require pursuant to a subpoena duces tecum the appearance of any officer, employee, or adjunct to any state agency, or the production of any relevant document or record within the custody of any state agency, before the Audit Council or the Reorganization Commission. The Audit Council and the Reorganization Commission may order the opening of records and their full access by members of the Audit Council and the Reorganization Commission or their designees. No violation of the privacy provisions of any state or federal law results from access to agency records. The Audit Council and the Reorganization Commission shall address all informational requests to the chief administrative officer of the agency examined, and he is accountable for the swift compliance of the requests. Any wilful noncompliance with informational requests is misfeasance in office and subjects the administrative officer to the penalties for misfeasance.

Section 1-20-60. The existence of any state agency and its regulations that may be scheduled for termination under this chapter may be reauthorized by the General Assembly for periods not to exceed six years, excluding the year of termination, or a lesser period of time, if so designated by the General Assembly at the time of the agency's creation. At the end of the period, each newly created agency or board and its promulgated regulations are subject to review pursuant to the provisions of this chapter."

(B) The first paragraph of Section 1-20-50 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"The programs, functions, and regulations promulgated by the following state agencies must be terminated as provided in this chapter pursuant to the following schedule."

Time effective

SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.