Scutari bill would create 'efficiency' commission
By: Katie Sobko
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey
..... A bill sponsored by the state senate president that would change New Jersey;s Administrative Procedure Act - the law hat establishes the rules and regulations for state agencies - cleared committee on December 1. [2205]
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State Senate President Nicholas Scutari's bill would change the way that rules are created for state government agencies.
..... Though it ultimately moved from the state Senate Senate State Government, Wagering, Tourism & Historic Preservation Committee to the state Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee with unanimous members support, it was met with opposition from advocates.
..... Nealy 40 minutes of testimony included concerns about what the bill would actually do to the individual agencies and the long-term impact only focusing on financial would have on the state.
..... Lindsey Kayman, president of the Trenton-based Environmental Education Fund, was concerned about the impact the bill would have on environmental regulations as well as the cost it could put on the backs of New Jersey taxpayer.
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"No serous economist would ever evaluate only one side of the ledger but [this bill] forces state agencies to focus on cost rather than benefits," she said.
..... "if approved, the bill would also cerate more bureaucratic red tape and would lead to a state government that is less efficient instead of more efficient, said Peter Chen of New Jersey Policy Perspective.
..... "This is essentially a supercharged red tape commission which was previously rejected in 2020 and creates a centralized place where one czar can essentially second guess all agency rule-making regardless of the scientific basis simply because of a vague and undefined economic effect on the state's economy," Chen said.
..... Not everyone was opposed to the bill though. Ray Cantor, the deputy chief of government affairs for the New Jersey Business and Industry Association, spoke in support of the legislation. He said in a statement that "while the APA was intended to make the rule-making process public and to in public comments, the reality often does not meet the intended goals."
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"Too often, rules that go along with newly cerated laws are developed secretly by bureaucratic staff who draft language to regulate industries they don't understand," he said. "the unfortunate result of this is the establishment of conditions that do not work in the real world."
What would Scutari's legislation do?
..... The bill would also establish a "Commission on Efficiency and Regulatory Review" to review rules and regulations and executive orders and requires the Department of Environmental Protection to convey permit information to the Legislature.
..... The governor would appoint the chair of the commission with the advice and consent of the Senate and would include members of the executive branch and the Legislature.
..... The commission would be responsible for reviewing all proposed and adopted rules and regulations and operative executive orders form the governor to assess their potential or actual effects on the state's economy, determine whether their costs and other burdens on businesses, workers, and local government outweigh their intended benefits and establish a basis for providing recommendations to the governor to amend or repeal anything that creates an undue burden.
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It would also amend the Administrative Procedure Act to:
* require the socio-economic impact statement that accompanies proposed rules to include an assessment of the effects on the state economy
* require propose rules to be accompanied by a cost-benefit analysis
* require state agencies to use the best available science, data and suites or the impact statement.
* require the Office of Administrative Law to review and certify the adequacy of rule-making impact statements
* require state agencies to file a statement of intent for each rule proposal at least 90 days prior to the formal notice of action for the rule proposal, and to accept public comment on the rule proposal
* require that any substantive changes to an adopted rule must be a logical outgrowth of the proposed rule and therefore a new rule must be adopted
* allow state agencies to extend existing rules with no changes or technical changes suing an expedited process if there are no adverse comments form the public otherwise the standard process is used
* clarify that rule extension with substantive changes are required to be effectuated using the ordinary process under the "Administrative Procedure Act," not an expedited process
..... Katie Sobko covers the New Jersey Statehouse. Email: sobko@northjersey.com