SB 980

This bill provides for the expiration of each chapter of the Wisconsin Administrative Code after eight years, unless the chapter is readopted by the agency through the readoption process established under the bill.

Under current law, an agency may promulgate administrative rules when it is granted rule-making authority under the statutes. Once promulgated, administrative rules generally remain in effect indefinitely unless repealed or amended by the agency.

The bill provides that each chapter of the code expires eight years after a rule that creates, or repeals and recreates, the chapter takes effect or after the chapter is readopted. The bill requires the Department of Administration to establish a schedule for the expiration of all existing code chapters that are in effect on the effective date of the bill. Under the bill, the chapter expires on its expiration date unless the agency promulgates a rule to readopt the chapter using the rule-making process established under current law. Such a rule may readopt the chapter without change or may include changes to the chapter. If the agency readopts a chapter using the rule-making process, the bill requires the agency to include certain analysis on the past and ongoing economic impact of the chapter and, if proposed changes are included, analyses of the economic impact of the proposed changes.

Also under current law, generally, if a proposed administrative rule is reasonably expected to pass along $10,000,000 or more in implementation and compliance costs to businesses, local governmental units, and individuals over any two-year period, the agency proposing the rule must stop working on the proposed rule until 1) the agency modifies the proposed rule to reduce the expected costs or 2) a bill is enacted that allows the agency to promulgate the proposed rule.

The bill provides that, for purposes of this prohibition, when an agency is proposing to readopt a chapter of the administrative code that is subject to expiration as provided in the bill, 1) the prohibition does not apply to proposed rules to readopt a chapter without change, and 2) if the agency is proposing to readopt a chapter with changes, the costs that shall be counted shall include only costs associated with the proposed changes, and not those past costs or the ongoing costs of maintaining the chapter.