HOUSE BILL 409
50th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2011
INTRODUCED BY
David L. Doyle
AN ACT
RELATING TO STATE RULES; REQUIRING ECONOMIC IMPACT STATEMENTS FOR STATE AGENCY RULES; HOLDING A STATE AGENCY RESPONSIBLE FOR UNDERESTIMATING THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF RULES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
SECTION 1. Section 14-4-2 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1967, Chapter 275, Section 2, as amended) is amended to read:
"14-4-2. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the State Rules Act:
A. "agency" means any agency, board, commission, department, institution or officer of the state government except the judicial and legislative branches of the state government;
B. "person" includes individuals, associations, partnerships, companies, business trusts and corporations; [and]
C. "rule" means any rule, regulation, order, standard or statement of policy, including amendments thereto or repeals thereof, issued or promulgated by any agency and purporting to affect one or more agencies besides the agency issuing [such] the rule or to affect persons not members or employees of [such] the issuing agency. An order or decision or other document issued or promulgated in connection with the disposition of any case or agency decision upon a particular matter as applied to a specific set of facts shall not be deemed such a rule, nor shall it constitute specific adoption thereof by the agency. [Such term shall] "Rule" does not include rules relating to:
(1) the management, confinement, discipline or release of inmates of any penal or charitable institution [the Springer boys' school, the girls' welfare home of] or any hospital [nor to rules made relating to];
(2) the management of any particular educational institution, whether elementary or otherwise [nor to rules made relating to]; or
(3) admissions, discipline, supervision, expulsion or graduation of students [therefrom] of any educational institution; and
D. "rulemaking" means the process for adopting, promulgating, amending or repealing a rule."
SECTION 2. Section 14-4-5 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1967, Chapter 275, Section 6, as amended) is amended to read:
"14-4-5. FILING AND COMPLIANCE REQUIRED FOR VALIDITY.--
A. No rule shall be valid or enforceable until it is filed with the records center and published in the New Mexico register as provided by the State Rules Act. Unless a later date is otherwise provided by law, the effective date of a rule shall be the date of publication in the New Mexico register. Emergency [regulations] rules may go into effect immediately upon filing with the records center, but shall be effective no more than thirty days unless they are published in the New Mexico register.
B. A rule shall not become valid or enforceable unless it is filed with an economic impact statement pursuant to Section 3 of this 2011 act at the records center and is published in the New Mexico register as provided by the State Rules Act."
SECTION 3. A new section of the State Rules Act is enacted to read:
"[NEW MATERIAL] ECONOMIC IMPACT STATEMENT--REQUIRED.--
A. At the beginning of rulemaking procedures, an agency shall prepare a draft economic impact statement on a proposed rule and make the document available for public inspection during office hours. At the time that notice of a public hearing on a rule is made, an agency shall include in the notice a public announcement that a draft economic impact statement is available for inspection and comment. At the end of rulemaking procedures and upon filing a rule, an agency shall prepare a final economic impact statement and file the final economic impact statement with the records center. An agency shall prepare the economic impact statement in the format and style established by the state records administrator.
B. An economic impact statement shall contain:
(1) a summary of the rule;
(2) a description of any persons, classes of persons, resources and political subdivisions that would be affected by the rule;
(3) the probable negative and positive economic impacts of the rule on affected persons, classes of persons, resources and political subdivisions;
(4) a comparison of the costs and benefits of the rule to the costs and benefits of inaction;
(5) the probable negative or positive impact to the state general fund, the state budget and any state special fund of taking the intended action;
(6) a statement as to whether there are other means for achieving the purpose of the rule with fewer adverse effects; and
(7) a summary of public comments or other evidence submitted during rulemaking.
C. If an agency is unable to complete all or part of an economic impact statement due to hardship, including lack of agency resources or unavailable information, the agency shall indicate the reason for the hardship in lieu of completing all or part of the economic impact statement.
D. The state records administrator shall maintain and make available to the public a list of all economic impact statements filed with the records center and any notices of exemption. The state records administrator shall also maintain and file the original copy of any economic impact statement as a permanent public record. The state records administrator shall provide the list of all economic impact statements filed with the records center on July 1 of each year to the governor, the president pro tempore of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives for distribution to the appropriate standing or interim legislative committee.
E. Notwithstanding other provisions of the State Rules Act, the public regulation commission is exempt from preparing and filing economic impact statements."
SECTION 4. A new section of the State Rules Act is enacted to read:
"[NEW MATERIAL] ASSESSMENT OF THE ECONOMIC IMPACT STATEMENTS FOR CERTAIN RULES.--
A. If the department of finance and administration receives a complaint specifying that the final economic impact statement for a rule underestimates the negative impact of the rule on persons, classes of persons, resources or political subdivisions that would be affected by the rule, the department of finance and administration shall:
(1) assess the final economic impact statement for the rule; and
(2) determine if the agency underestimated the negative impact of the rule on persons, classes of persons, resources or political subdivisions that would be affected by the rule.
B. If the department of finance and administration determines that the agency underestimated the negative impact of the rule on persons, classes of persons, resources or political subdivisions that would be affected by the rule, the department of finance and administration shall:
(1) determine the dollar amount by which the agency underestimated the negative impact of the rule on persons, classes of persons, resources or political subdivisions that would be affected by the rule; and
(2) subtract the dollar amount by which the agency underestimated the negative impact of the rule on persons, classes of persons, resources or political subdivisions that would be affected by the rule from the agency's budget in the subsequent fiscal year."
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