Washington State

House of Representatives

Office of Program Research

BILL

ANALYSIS

State Government & Tribal Affairs Committee

HB 1475

This analysis was prepared by non-partisan legislative staff for the use of legislative members in their deliberations. This analysis is not a part of the legislation nor does it constitute a statement of legislative intent.

Background:

The primary institutional means for providing notice to the public of agencies' rule-making activities is the Washington Administrative Code that is published by the Code Reviser in the Washington State Register (Register). The Register is a biweekly publication distributed on the first and third Wednesday of each month. The Register website contains state agencies' pre-proposals, notices of proposed rules, emergency and permanently adopted rules, public meetings, requests for public input, notices of rules review, executive orders of the Governor, court rules, summary of attorney general opinions, juvenile disposition standards, basic filing procedure, agency rulemaking activity, quarterly rulemaking report, state maximum interest rate, closing date calendar, pre-proposal calendar, and a list of designated rules coordinators.

Summary of Bill:

State agencies must maintain a website containing the agency's rule-making information, including the complete text of proposed rules, emergency rules, and permanent rules proposed or adopted within the past twelve months. A direct link to the rule-making page must be displayed on the agency's homepage. An agency's rule-making website may contain a direct link to the index page on the Register website that includes the agency's rule-making activity.

The agency rule-making website must include the time, date, and place for the required hearing of a proposed rule and procedures and timelines for submitting written comments and supporting data.