Senate Committee Meets March 8 To Consider Bill Allowing General Assembly To Kill Regulations By Doing Nothing

The Senate Intergovernmental Operations Committee is scheduled to meet March 8 on two bills “reforming” the regulatory review process; one would allow the General Assembly to kill final regulations by doing nothing.

The bills include--

-- Kill Regulations By Doing Nothing: Senate Bill 188 (DiSanto-R-Dauphin) amending the Regulatory Review Act to authorize the General Assembly to kill “economically significant” regulations by doing nothing.

Senate Bill 188 would require legislative approval of any economically significant final regulation or final-omitted regulation that has an impact of $1 million or more on a regulated community.

The bill requires the Independent Fiscal Office to estimate the cost of the regulation.  There is no requirement to calculate the environmental or economic benefits of a regulation or compare the cost to doing nothing.

In order for a final regulation approved by the Independent Regulatory Review Commission to go into effect, the Senate and House would have to adopt a concurrent resolution approving the regulation.

If one or both of the chambers failed to act, the final regulation would be deemed NOT approved and would be prohibited from taking effect.

-- Three-Year Review Of Regulations: Senate Bill 190 (Brooks-R- Crawford) requiring an automatic three-year review of economically significant regulations in a process similar to what was called “sunset reviews” decades ago. That process was abandoned by the General Assembly because it became a costly, time-consuming exercise with little benefit. 

The meeting will be held in Room 461 starting at 10:00 a.m.  Click Here to see if available online.

Sen. Jarrett Coleman (R-Bucks) serves as Major Chair of the Committee and can be contacted by calling 717-787-1349 or through his website.  Sen. Christine Tartaglione (D-Philadelphia) serves as Minority Chair and can be contacted by calling 717-787-1141 or sending email to: tartaglione@pasenate.com. 

[Posted: March 1, 2023]  PA Environment Digest