HCS#2/SB 161 - This act makes various revisions to the rules review provisions contained in Chapter 536, RSMo.

SUNSET PROVISION REMOVED: This act removes the September 1, 1997, expiration date from section 536.017, "Taking of Private Property". This is the original and only provision from SB 161.

BILLS RELATING TO RULES: Each regular session, the House and Senate shall propose a bill titled "An act relating to the implementation of law existing prior to the effective date of this legislation." This bill shall implement existing administrative rules. (This section only becomes effective upon the expiration of twenty days after Executive Order 97-97 is rescinded.)

REVISIONS TO RULEMAKING PROCEDURE: All previous rulemaking authority is rescinded. An agency may promulgate procedural or emergency rules if such agency files such rules with the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules pursuant to Chapter 536, RSMo. In a case challenging a procedural rule, the agency has the burden of proving that the rule is not substantive (Section 536.019 -- this section only becomes effective upon the expiration of twenty days after Executive Order 97-97 is rescinded).

Any agency may seek comments on the subject matter of a proposed rule by including a notice in the Missouri Register. Each agency may appoint committees to comment on the subject matter of such rule (Section 536.120).

The Secretary of State shall not publish any order of rulemaking that has not been filed with the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules. The Committee may file comments with the Secretary of State on such rule and refer such comments to the House Budget Committee and Senate Appropriations Committee. The authority of the Committee to suspend a proposed rule is repealed (Sections 536.124 and 536.125).

Each agency shall maintain a public rulemaking docket containing the subject matter of each rule the agency is considering to propose. The docket may also include the name of a contact person to handle questions about the proposed rule (Section 536.046).

A party who prevails in an action challenging the validity of an administrative rule shall be awarded reasonable fees and expenses. A decision on such a fee award shall be a separate finding and is subject to review and may be modified or reversed. An agency that is assessed such fees shall request an appropriation to pay for such amount (Section 536.050).

This act contains an emergency clause.
JAMES KLAHR