BOISE, IDAHO – On Wednesday, December 6, 2023 at 2:00 p.m., the Idaho Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the case of Idaho State Athletic Commission v. Office of the Administrative Rules.
In March 2023 the Idaho Legislature passed House Bill 206 (HB206). The administrative rules bill was sponsored by Representative Vito Barbieri and was designed to assert legislative oversight on executive agencies. The legislation became law on April 6, 2023, without the governor’s signature, and went into effect on July 1, 2023.
According to the original statement of purpose, the legislation was meant to “put all administrative rules on an eight-year expiration cycle.” Additionally, the legislation “requires every proposed administrative rule to be approved by a concurrent resolution of the Legislature in order to be in effect after the Legislature adjourns each year.”
Once the bill passed the house, it was sent to the Senate State Affairs Committee where Senator Chuck Winder amended the bill in a manner that altered the statement of purpose. The amendment by Winder removed language which provided an expiration date for all administrative rules, and he replaced it with language that only requires rules to be “periodically reviewed” by the legislature.
Despite the change in the bill language that keeps rules from expiring after eight years, two executive agencies assert that legislative pre-approval before a rule becomes effective is unconstitutional. The Idaho State Athletic Conference and the Idaho Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses jointly sued the Office of Administrative Rules to stop the new law from changing their practice of creating and implementing rules prior to legislative approval.
“The power to create and implement rules independent of oversight is part of what turns government into bureaucratic nightmares,” asserts Senator Carl Bjerke who voted for HB206.
“The larger concern is the legislative branch is attempting to exert the will of the people, but the system currently restricts us to a very small voice,” stated Bjerke. “There simply isn’t enough time for true oversight as a part-time citizen legislature.”
