HB 216-REGULATIONS: INFORMATIVE SUMMARY/BILLS  9:03:57 AM CHAIR LYNN announced that the next order of business was HOUSE BILL NO. 216, "An Act relating to deadlines in bills directing the adoption of regulations and to the informative summary required for the proposed adoption, amendment, or repeal of a regulation." 9:04:36 AM The committee took a one-minute at-ease. 9:05:36 AM REPRESENTATIVE P. WILSON presented HB 216 as sponsor. She said the bill would address two problems related to changes in state regulations: the slow manner in which regulations are sometimes implemented and the confusing language of regulations. 9:07:26 AM REPRESENTATIVE P. WILSON said Section 1 of the proposed legislation would require that the legislature set up a time to have regulations completed and ready to implement. She said this information is important to legislators when deciding when to set the effective date of proposed legislation. Section 2, she noted, would require agencies to provide descriptive summaries of proposed changes to regulations. She said this will help legislators to better understand the proposed changes, as well as aid in the public's understanding of those changes, thereby increasing the public's participation in government process. She said the descriptions need not be lengthy and would not be legally binding. REPRESENTATIVE P. WILSON pointed to a note [included in the committee packet] from Theresa Bannister of Legislative Legal and Research Services. Representative P. Wilson said that based on Ms. Bannister's comments, she realizes that the courts are unlikely to void a bill for violating the requirements under HB 216, and amendments may be necessary to make the proposed legislation more viable. However, she expressed her belief that there is a great need for improvement in the legislative process, which is the intent of HB 216. She said she open to suggestions from the committee. 9:10:05 AM REPRESENTATIVE JOHANSEN expressed appreciation to Representative P. Wilson for bringing the proposed legislation forward, but said he thinks a lot of discussion would be required to address issues including the timeline of public process, the complexities of implementing statute, and the difficulty departments have in implementing initiatives. 9:11:41 AM REPRESENTATIVE KELLER thanked Representative P. Wilson for sponsoring HB 216, concurred with Representative Johansen that the bill needs further consideration, and offered to help the sponsor with the legislation over the interim. 9:12:30 AM REPRESENTATIVE GRUENBERG mentioned a proposed bill heard a few weeks ago regarding the waiver of attorney client privilege, and said there had been discussion about how rule making under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) is working. He said he thinks "that would be a ... good project for this committee in the interim." He asked Representative P. Wilson if she would allow HB 216 to be used as a vehicle in considering any necessary changes to the rule-making process. REPRESENTATIVE P. WILSON answered yes. 9:13:57 AM REPRESENTATIVE PETERSEN said he likes the concept of HB 216, but expressed concern about the subjective nature of ["easily  readable language that a person without a legal background is  able to understand" - page 2, lines 6-7]. 9:14:24 AM REPRESENTATIVE P. WILSON noted that the sponsor statement singles out the Department of Health & Social Services in the example given of the length of time taken to adopt a regulation. She emphasized that her intent had not been to insult that entity, and said she would revise the sponsor statement. 9:15:54 AM WARD HURLBURT, Director and Chief Medical Officer, Division of Public Health, Department of Health & Social Services, in response to the bill sponsor, related that the department had failed to expeditiously publish regulations following the passage of House Bill 277. He assured the committee that the department takes its responsibilities seriously, and he said he would help to ensure such a lapse does not recur. He added that the department has no official position regarding HB 216. 9:17:57 AM CHAIR LYNN, after ascertaining that there was no one else who wished to testify, closed public testimony. 9:18:18 AM REPRESENTATIVE SEATON said this is an important issue, and he expressed his appreciation that the committee is addressing it. [HB 216 was held over.]