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COMMITTEE REPORT
May 22, 2003
H. 3082
Introduced by Reps. Scarborough, Simrill, Hinson, Merrill, White, Trotter, Thompson, M.A. Pitts, Duncan, Barfield, Edge, Clemmons, Viers and Bailey
S. Printed 5/22/03--S. [SEC 5/27/03 12:42 PM]
Read the first time March 26, 2003.
To whom was referred a Bill (H. 3082) to amend Sections 1-23-120 and 1-23-125, both as amended, Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1976, both relating to General Assembly review, etc., respectfully
That they have duly and carefully considered the same and recommend that the same do pass with amendment:
Amend the bill, as and if amended, by striking all after the enacting words and inserting:
/SECTION 1. Section 1-23-110(C) of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 181 of 1993, is further amended to read:
"(C)(1) The agency shall consider fully all written and oral submissions respecting the proposed regulation.
(2) Following the public hearing and consideration of all submissions, an agency shall not submit a regulation to the General Assembly for review if the regulation as it was proposed, pursuant to subsection (A)(3), contains a substantive change and the substantive change was not raised, considered, or discussed by public comment received pursuant to this section. The agency must refile such a regulation for publication in the State Register as a proposed regulation pursuant to subsection (A)(3)."
SECTION 2. Section 1-23-115(A) of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 411 of 1996, is further amended to read:
"(A) Upon written request by two members of the General Assembly, made before submission of a promulgated regulation to the General Assembly for legislative review, a regulation that has a substantial economic impact must have an assessment report prepared pursuant to this section and in accordance with the procedures contained in this article. In addition to any other method as may be provided by the General Assembly, the legislative committee to which the promulgated regulation has been referred, by majority vote, may send a written notification to the promulgating agency informing the agency that the committee cannot approve the promulgated regulation unless an assessment report is prepared and provided to the committee. The written notification tolls the running of the one hundred-twenty-day legislative review period, and the period does not begin to run again until an assessment report prepared in accordance with this article is submitted to the committee. Upon receipt of the assessment report, additional days must be added to the days remaining in the one hundred-twenty-day review period, if less than twenty days, to equal twenty days. A copy of the assessment report must be provided to each member of the committee."
SECTION 3. Section 1-23-120 of the 1976 Code, as amended by Act 231 of 2002, is further amended to read:
"Section 1-23-120. (A) All regulations except those specifically exempted under this section subsection (K) must be submitted to the General Assembly for review in accordance with this article, but; however, no regulation may be submitted to the General Assembly more than one year after publication of the drafting notice initiating the regulation pursuant to Section 1-23-110. A regulation submitted to the General Assembly for review may not be withdrawn or modified by the agency for any reason except upon written notification by a committee that the committee by majority vote cannot approve the regulation in the form submitted, as provided for in Section 1-23-125.
(B) To initiate the process of review, the agency shall file with the Legislative Council for submission to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives a document containing:
(1) a copy of the regulations promulgated. Regulations proposing to amend an existing regulation, or any clearly identifiable subdivision or portion of a regulation, must contain the full text of the existing regulation, or the text of the identifiable portion of the regulation; the text that is proposed to be deleted must be stricken through, and text that is proposed to be added must be underlined;
(2) a request for review;
(3) a brief synopsis of the regulations submitted, explaining which explains the content and any changes in existing regulations resulting from the submitted regulations;
(4) a copy of the final assessment report and the summary of the final report prepared by the division pursuant to Section 1-23-115. A regulation that does not require an assessment report because it the regulation does not have a substantial economic impact must include a statement to that effect. A regulation exempt from filing an assessment report pursuant to Section 1-23-115(E) must include an explanation of the exemption;
(5) a copy of the fiscal impact statement prepared by the agency as required in by Section 1-23-110.; and
(6) a detailed statement of rationale which shall state states the basis for the regulation, including the scientific or technical basis, if any, and shall identify identifies any studies, reports, policies, or statements of professional judgment or administrative need relied upon in developing the regulation.
(C) Upon receipt of the request regulation, the President and Speaker reviewing the request shall submit it shall refer the regulation for consideration review to the standing committees of the Senate and House which are most concerned with the function of the promulgating agency. A copy of the regulation or a synopsis of it the regulation must be given to each member of the committee, and Legislative Council shall notify all members of the General Assembly when regulations are submitted for review.
(D)(1) The committees to which regulations are referred have one hundred twenty days from the date the regulations are submitted to the General Assembly to consider and take action on these regulations. However, if a regulation is referred to a committee and no action occurs in that committee on the regulation If a standing committee to which a regulation is referred does not consider the regulation at a meeting of the full committee within sixty calendar days of receipt of the referral of the regulation, the committee must place the regulation must be placed on the agenda of the full committee beginning with the next scheduled full committee meeting agenda, and the committee must vote on the regulation. If at the full committee meeting the committee takes a procedural vote rather than a substantive vote, the committee must place the regulation on the next scheduled full committee meeting agenda and must vote on the regulation. The committee must continue to place the regulation on each subsequent full committee meeting agenda until a substantive vote is taken on the regulation.
(2) For purposes of this section:
(a) 'Substantive vote' means a vote to approve or disapprove a regulation or to request an agency to withdraw and resubmit a regulation with recommended changes.
(b) 'Procedural vote' means any vote other than a substantive vote.
(E)(1) Neither a committee to which a regulation is referred nor any member of the General Assembly may amend a regulation. However, the committee, by majority vote of those present and voting, may request in writing that an agency withdraw and resubmit a regulation with recommended changes which the committee has specified in writing and which would be necessary to obtain committee approval.
(2) If an agency does not respond in writing to a committee within thirty days of the committee's request to withdraw and resubmit a regulation or does not resubmit a regulation with the recommended changes within thirty days of withdrawing the regulation, the regulation is deemed permanently withdrawn.
(3) An agency shall not withdraw or modify a regulation under General Assembly Review except as provided for in this section.
(F)(1) When the majority of those present and voting of the full committee to which a regulation was referred takes a substantive vote on the regulation, the committee must notify Legislative Council in writing of this vote, and Legislative Council must notify the committee in the other body to which the regulation was referred of this committee vote.
(2) If the full committee in each body, by majority vote of those present and voting, have approved a regulation, the regulation becomes effective upon publication in the State Register.
(3) If the full committee in each body, by majority vote of those present and voting, have disapproved the regulation, the disapproval only becomes effective upon the enactment of a joint resolution disapproving the regulation unless the regulation is deemed permanently withdrawn pursuant to subsection (I).
(4) If the full committee in one body, by majority vote of those present and voting, requests an agency to withdraw and resubmit a regulation with recommended changes, a vote taken by the full committee in the other body anytime before the regulation is resubmitted is without effect, and the provisions of this section apply with regard to the resubmitted regulation.
(5) If one committee has approved a regulation and the other committee has disapproved the regulation, the chairman of each committee shall appoint three members of the committee to serve on a regulation resolution committee for the purpose of resolving the conflicting vote on the regulation. In considering the regulation, the regulation resolution committee by majority vote may request in writing that the agency withdraw and resubmit the regulation with recommended changes which the regulation resolution committee has specified in writing and which would be necessary to obtain the approval of the regulation resolution committee. If the regulation resolution committee by majority vote:
(a) approves the regulation, or a withdrawn and resubmitted version of the regulation, the full committee in each body to which the regulation was referred must vote on that version of the regulation. If the full committee in each body, by majority vote of those present and voting, approves the regulation, the approval of the regulation only becomes effective by the enactment of a joint resolution approving the regulation and publication of the regulation in the State Register;
(b) disapproves the regulation, or a withdrawn and resubmitted version of the regulation, the full committee in each body to which the regulation was referred must vote on that version of the regulation. If the full committee in each body, by majority vote of those present and voting, disapproves the regulation, the disapproval of the regulation only becomes effective by the enactment of a joint resolution disapproving the regulation unless the regulation is deemed permanently withdrawn pursuant to subsection (I).
(6) A full committee, by majority vote of those present and voting, may approve one or more separate regulations submitted for review in one regulation document and disapprove one or more separate regulations submitted in the same regulation document. If a full committee votes in this manner, the procedures provided in this subsection regarding approval and disapproval of regulations applies to the votes on these separate regulations.
(D) If a joint resolution to approve a regulation is not enacted within one hundred twenty days after the regulation is submitted to the General Assembly or if a joint resolution to disapprove a regulation has not been introduced by a standing committee to which the regulation was referred for review, the regulation is effective upon publication in the State Register. Upon introduction of the first joint resolution disapproving a regulation by a standing committee to which the regulation was referred for review, the one-hundred-twenty-day period for automatic approval is tolled. A regulation may not be filed under the emergency provisions of Section 1-23-130 if a joint resolution to disapprove the regulation has been introduced by a standing committee to which the regulation was referred. Upon a negative vote by either the Senate or House of Representatives on the resolution disapproving the regulation and the notification in writing of the negative vote to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate by the clerk of the house in which the negative vote occurred, the remainder of the period begins to run. If the remainder of the period is less than ninety days, additional days must be added to the remainder to equal ninety days. The introduction of a joint resolution by the committee of either house does not prevent the introduction of a joint resolution by the committee of the other house to either approve or disapprove the regulations concerned. A joint resolution approving or disapproving a regulation must include:
(1) the synopsis of the regulation as required by subsection (B);
(2) the summary of the final assessment report prepared by the division pursuant to Section 1-23-115 or, as required by subsection (B), the statement or explanation that an assessment report is not required or is exempt.
(E) The one hundred twenty day period of review begins on the date the regulation is filed with the President and Speaker. Sine die adjournment of the General Assembly tolls the running of the period of review, and the remainder of the period begins to run upon the next convening of the General Assembly excluding special sessions called by the Governor.
(F)(G) Any member of the General Assembly may introduce a joint resolution approving or disapproving a regulation thirty days following the date the regulations concerned are submitted referred to a standing committee for review and no committee joint resolution approving or disapproving the regulations has been introduced and the regulations concerned have not been withdrawn by the promulgating agency pursuant to Section 1-23-125, but the introduction does not toll the one-hundred-twenty-day period of automatic approval.
(H) A joint resolution approving or disapproving a regulation must include the synopsis of the regulation as required by subsection (B)(3).
(I)(1) A regulation is deemed permanently withdrawn, if within two calendar years after the regulation was submitted to the President and Speaker for review, the regulation has not been approved as provided for in this article.
(2) Subsection (I)(1) does not apply to a regulation for which a joint resolution approving the regulation is pending at the end of the two years.
(G)(K) General Assembly review is not required for regulations promulgated:
(1) to maintain compliance with federal law including, but not limited to, grant programs; however, the synopsis of the regulation required to be submitted by subsection (B)(3) must include citations to federal law, if any, mandating the promulgation of or changes in the regulation justifying this exemption;
(2) by the state Board of Financial Institutions in order to authorize state-chartered banks, state-chartered savings and loan associations, and state-chartered credit unions to engage in activities that are authorized pursuant to Section 34-1-110;
(3) by the South Carolina Department of Revenue to adopt regulations, revenue rulings, revenue procedures, and technical advice memoranda of the Internal Revenue Service so as to maintain conformity with the Internal Revenue Code as defined in Section 12-6-40; or
(4) as emergency regulations under Section 1-23-130.
(H) For purposes of this section, only those calendar days occurring during a session of the General Assembly, excluding special sessions, are included in computing the days elapsed.
(I) Each state agency which promulgates regulations or to which the responsibility for administering regulations has been transferred shall by July 1, 1997, and every five years thereafter, conduct a formal review of all regulations which it has promulgated or for which it has been transferred the responsibility of administering, except that those regulations described in subsection (G) are not subject to this review. Upon completion of the review, the agency shall submit to the Code Commissioner a report which identifies those regulations:
(1) for which the agency intends to begin the process of repeal in accordance with this article;
(2) for which the agency intends to begin the process of amendment in accordance with this article; and
(3) which do not require repeal or amendment.
Nothing in this subsection may be construed to prevent an agency from repealing or amending a regulation in accordance with this article before or after it is so identified in the report to the Code Commissioner."
SECTION 4. Section 1-23-130(C) of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 181 of 1993, is further amended by adding at the end:
"However, a regulation may not be filed under the provisions of this section, if a majority of those present and voting of the full committee in either body to which the regulation was referred for review votes to disapprove the regulation pursuant to Section 1-23-120."
SECTION 5. Section 1-23-125 of the 1976 Code is repealed.
SECTION 6. This act takes effect July 1, 2003, and applies to regulations for which a notice of a public hearing has been published in the State Register, in accordance with Section 1-23-110(A)(3) of the 1976 Code, on or after July 1, 2003; all other regulations under General Assembly review on this act's effective date must be processed and reviewed in accordance with the law in effect on June 30, 2003./
Renumber sections to conform.
Amend title to conform.
Majority favorable. Minority unfavorable.
GREG GREGORY C. BRADLEY HUTTO
For Majority. For Minority.
TO AMEND SECTIONS 1-23-120 AND 1-23-125, BOTH AS AMENDED, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BOTH RELATING TO GENERAL ASSEMBLY REVIEW OF REGULATIONS AND REQUESTS TO WITHDRAW REGULATIONS, SO AS TO REQUIRE AFFIRMATIVE APPROVAL OF REGULATIONS RATHER THAN ALLOWING THEM TO BECOME EFFECTIVE AFTER ONE HUNDRED TWENTY DAYS, TO DELETE REFERENCES TO THE ONE-HUNDRED-TWENTY-DAY PERIOD AND TO PROVIDE THAT IF A RESOLUTION TO APPROVE OR DISAPPROVE A REGULATION HAS NOT BEEN ENACTED BY THE END OF THE SECOND YEAR OF THE LEGISLATIVE SESSION, THE REGULATION MUST BE PROMULGATED AS A NEW REGULATION BEFORE SUBMITTING FOR SUBSEQUENT APPROVAL.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. Section 1-23-120 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 231 of 2002, is further amended to read:
"Section 1-23-120. (A)(1) All regulations except those specifically exempted under this section must be submitted to the General Assembly for review in accordance with this article, but no regulation may be submitted to the General Assembly more than one year after publication of the drafting notice initiating the regulation pursuant to Section 1-23-110.
(2) A regulation submitted to the General Assembly for review may not be withdrawn or modified by the agency for any reason except upon written notification by a committee that the committee by majority vote cannot approve the regulation in the form submitted, as provided for in Section 1-23-125.
(3) A regulation proposing to amend an existing regulation, or any clearly identifiable subdivision or portion of a regulation, must contain the full text of the existing regulation. Text that is proposed to be deleted must be stricken through, and text that is proposed to be added must be underlined.
(B) To initiate the process of review, the agency shall file with the Legislative Council for submission to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives:
(1) a copy of the regulations promulgated;
(2) a request for review;
(3) a brief synopsis of the regulations submitted explaining the content and any changes in existing regulations resulting from the regulations;
(4) a copy of the final assessment report and the summary of the final report prepared by the division pursuant to Section 1-23-115. A regulation that does not require an assessment report because it does not have a substantial economic impact must include a statement to that effect. A regulation exempt from filing an assessment report pursuant to Section 1-23-115(E) must include an explanation of the exemption;
(5) a copy of the fiscal impact statement prepared by the agency as required in Section 1-23-110.
(6) a detailed statement of rationale which shall state the basis for the regulation, including the scientific or technical basis, if any, and shall identify any studies, reports, policies, or statements of professional judgment or administrative need relied upon in developing the regulation.
(C)(1) Upon receipt of the request regulation, the President and Speaker reviewing the request shall submit it refer the regulation for consideration review to the standing committees of the Senate and House which are most concerned with the function of the promulgating agency. A copy of the regulation or a synopsis of it must be given to each member of the committee. The committees to which regulations are referred have one hundred twenty days from the date regulations are submitted to the General Assembly to consider and take action on these regulations. However,
(2) If the full committee to which a regulation is referred to a committee and takes no action occurs in that committee on the regulation within sixty calendar days of receipt of the regulation, the regulation must be placed on the agenda of the full committee beginning with the next scheduled full committee meeting. Sine die adjournment of the General Assembly tolls the running of this sixty day period. Within sixty days after the next convening of the General Assembly, excluding special sessions called by the Governor, the regulation must be put on the agenda of the full committee.
(3) If at the full committee meeting the committee:
(a) does not vote on the regulation, the regulation is deemed permanently withdrawn at the time of the sine die adjournment of the two year legislative session;
(b) votes on the regulation and the committee votes against the regulation, the committee may:
(i) introduce a joint resolution disapproving the regulation;
(ii) take no further action, and the regulation is deemed permanently withdrawn at the time of the sine die adjournment of the two year legislative session.
(c) votes on the regulation and the committee approves the regulation, the committee may:
(i) introduce a joint resolution approving the regulation;
(ii) take no further action, and the regulation takes effect sixty days after the committee voted to approve the regulation if the committee in the other body, to which the regulation was referred, has not exercised it's right to take no action as provided for in item (a) or has not voted against the regulation pursuant to item (b).
(4) If conflicting action is taken in the two bodies concerning a regulation, and no joint resolution is enacted approving or disapproving the regulation, the regulation is considered permanently withdrawn at the time of the sine die adjournment of the two year legislative session.
(5) The full committee to which a regulation is referred shall report to the Legislative Council any action the full committee takes on a regulation, including not voting on a regulation, as provided for in item (a) of subsection (C)(3).
(6) Any regulation approved pursuant to this subsection becomes effective upon publication in The State Register.
(D) If a joint resolution to approve a regulation is not enacted within one hundred twenty days after the regulation is submitted to the General Assembly or if a joint resolution to disapprove a regulation has not been introduced by a standing committee to which the regulation was referred for review, the regulation is effective upon publication in the State Register. Upon introduction of the first joint resolution disapproving a regulation by a standing committee to which the regulation was referred for review, the one-hundred-twenty-day period for automatic approval is tolled. A regulation may not be filed under the emergency provisions of Section 1-23-130 if a joint resolution to disapprove the regulation has been introduced by a standing committee to which the regulation was referred. Upon a negative vote by either the Senate or House of Representatives on the resolution disapproving the regulation and the notification in writing of the negative vote to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate by the clerk of the house in which the negative vote occurred, the remainder of the period begins to run. If the remainder of the period is less than ninety days, additional days must be added to the remainder to equal ninety days. The introduction of a joint resolution by the committee of either house does not prevent the introduction of a joint resolution by the committee of the other house to either approve or disapprove the regulations concerned. A joint resolution approving or disapproving a regulation must include:
(1) the synopsis of the regulation as required by subsection (B);
(2) the summary of the final assessment report prepared by the division pursuant to Section 1-23-115 or, as required by subsection (B), the statement or explanation that an assessment report is not required or is exempt.
(E) The one-hundred-twenty-day period of review begins on the date the regulation is filed with the President and Speaker. Sine die adjournment of the General Assembly tolls the running of the period of review, and the remainder of the period begins to run upon the next convening of the General Assembly excluding special sessions called by the Governor. A regulation may not be filed under the emergency provisions of Section 1-23-130 if the committee to which the regulation was referred has exercised its rights pursuant to item (a) or (b) of subsection (C)(3).
(F) Any member may introduce a joint resolution approving or disapproving a regulation thirty days following the date the regulations concerned are submitted to a standing committee for review and no committee joint resolution approving or disapproving has exercised its rights or taken action pursuant to subsection (C)(3) on the regulations has been introduced and the regulations concerned have not been withdrawn by the promulgating agency pursuant to Section 1-23-125, but the introduction does not toll the one-hundred-twenty-day period of automatic approval. However, introduction of a joint resolution by a member does not impact the approval or disapproval of a regulation unless the joint resolution is enacted before the regulation becomes effective pursuant to subsection (C)(3).
(G) General Assembly review is not required for regulations promulgated:
(1) to maintain compliance with federal law including, but not limited to, grant programs; however, the synopsis of the regulation required to be submitted by subsection (B) must include citations to federal law, if any, mandating the promulgation of or changes in the regulation justifying this exemption;
(2) by the state Board of Financial Institutions in order to authorize state-chartered banks, state-chartered savings and loan associations, and state-chartered credit unions to engage in activities that are authorized pursuant to Section 34-1-110;
(3) by the South Carolina Department of Revenue to adopt regulations, revenue rulings, revenue procedures, and technical advice memoranda of the Internal Revenue Service so as to maintain conformity with the Internal Revenue Code as defined in Section 12-6-40;
(4) as emergency regulations under Section 1-23-130.
(H) For purposes of this section, only those calendar days occurring during a session of the General Assembly, excluding special sessions, are included in computing the days elapsed.
(I) Each state agency which promulgates regulations or to which the responsibility for administering regulations has been transferred shall by July 1, 1997, and every five years thereafter, conduct a formal review of all regulations which it has promulgated or for which it has been transferred the responsibility of administering, except that those regulations described in subsection (G) are not subject to this review. Upon completion of the review, the agency shall submit to the Code Commissioner a report which identifies those regulations:
(1) for which the agency intends to begin the process of repeal in accordance with this article;
(2) for which the agency intends to begin the process of amendment in accordance with this article; and
(3) which do not require repeal or amendment.
Nothing in this subsection may be construed to prevent an agency from repealing or amending a regulation in accordance with this article before or after it is so identified in the report to the Code Commissioner."
SECTION 2. Section 1-23-125 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 411 of 1996, is further amended to read:
"Section 1-23-125. (A) The legislative committee to which a regulation is submitted referred is not authorized to amend a particular regulation and then introduce a joint resolution approving the regulation as amended; however, this provision does not prevent the introduction of a resolution disapproving one or more of a group of regulations submitted to the committee and approving others submitted at the same time or deleting a clearly separable portion of a single regulation and approving the balance of the regulation in the committee resolution. An agency may not withdraw from or modify a regulation under legislative General Assembly review unless the agency receives written notification, as provided for in this section, from a committee that the committee by majority vote cannot approve the regulation in the form submitted.
(B) If a majority of a committee determines that it cannot approve a regulation in the form submitted, it shall notify the promulgating agency in writing along with its recommendations as to changes that would be necessary to obtain committee approval. The agency may:
(1) withdraw the regulation from the General Assembly and resubmit it with the recommended changes to the Legislative Council to be transmitted to the Speaker and the Lieutenant Governor, but any regulation not resubmitted within thirty days is considered permanently withdrawn;
(2) withdraw the regulation permanently;
(3) take no action and abide by whatever action is taken or not taken by the General Assembly on the regulation concerned.
(C) The notification tolls the one-hundred-twenty-day period for automatic approval, and when an agency withdraws regulations from the General Assembly prior to the time a committee resolution to approve or disapprove the regulation has been introduced, the remainder of the period begins to run only on the date the regulations are resubmitted to the General Assembly. Upon resubmission of the regulations, additional days must be added to the days remaining in the review period for automatic approval, if less than twenty days, to equal twenty days, and a copy of the amended regulation must be given to each member of the committee. If an agency decides to take no action pursuant to item (3), it of subsection (B), the agency shall notify the committee and the Legislative Council in writing and the remainder of the period begins to run only upon this notification.
(D) This section, as it applies to approval, disapproval, or modification of regulations, does not apply to joint resolutions introduced by other than the committees to which regulations are initially referred by the Lieutenant Governor or the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
(E) If a regulation, when finally promulgated, includes a substantive change in the content of the regulation as proposed and published in the State Register, and the substantive change was not raised, considered, or discussed by public comment required in Section 1-23-110, the regulation must be refiled by the agency with the Legislative Council and published as revised in the State Register and processed as a new regulation in accordance with this article."
SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor and applies to those regulations for which a drafting notice is submitted pursuant to Section 1-23-110 of the 1976 Code on or after this act's effective date.
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