THE SENATE                           S.C.R. NO.            109
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
________________________________________________________________
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                    SENATE  CONCURRENT
                        RESOLUTION
  REQUESTING THE DIRECTOR OF COMMERCE AND CONSUMER AFFAIRS TO
    ESTABLISH A RULE DRAFTING POLICY TASK FORCE.



 1        WHEREAS, unnecessary, cumbersome, and unduly restrictive
 2   administrative rules negatively affect the productivity of
 3   government and business; and
 4   
 5        WHEREAS, for example, rules may be unnecessarily detailed
 6   and prevent an agency from responding in the most efficient and
 7   effective manner to changing circumstances; and
 8   
 9        WHEREAS, programs such as the slice waste and tape (SWAT)
10   program in the Office of the Lieutenant Governor, the Small
11   Business Task Force, and the Business Advocate are currently
12   reforming the State's administrative rules, primarily by
13   improving the rule revision process.  Public access to rules
14   has been increased, and rules are being evaluated with an eye
15   toward their impact on business; and
16   
17        WHEREAS, to maintain forward progress toward reforming
18   administrative rules, policies representing the public interest
19   in minimizing the burden that rules place on governmental and
20   private productivity should be identified and memorialized in
21   the law; and
22   
23        WHEREAS, these policies should be integrated into the
24   rulemaking and rule revision process in the form of guidelines
25   and examples; and
26   
27        WHEREAS, the Administrative Procedure Act, chapter 91 of
28   the Hawaii Revised Statutes, lacks policies relating to the
29   State's productivity concerns; and
30   
31        WHEREAS, the Hawaii Administrative Rules Drafting Manual,
32   and the rules format chapters of that manual also lack
33   guidelines or examples that would help drafters identify and
34   utilize alternatives to rules that have unintended, negative
35   effects on productivity; and
36   

 
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                                  S.C.R. NO.            109
                                                        
                                                        

 1        WHEREAS, there is a need to establish a task force to
 2   develop policies, guidelines, and examples that establish the
 3   public interest in minimizing the burden placed by rules on
 4   governmental and private productivity, and integrate this
 5   policy into the rule drafting process; now, therefore,
 6   
 7        BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twentieth Legislature
 8   of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2000, the House of
 9   Representatives concurring, that the Director of Commerce and
10   Consumer Affairs is requested to establish a rule drafting
11   policy task force ("task force"); and
12   
13        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Director is requested to
14   place the task force within the Department of Commerce and
15   Consumer Affairs for administrative purposes only, and is
16   further requested to include in the composition of the task
17   force a representative of the following programs and agencies,
18   to be selected by the respective program or agency:
19   
20        (1)  Business Advocate;
21   
22        (2)  Department of the Attorney General;
23   
24        (3)  Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs;
25   
26        (4)  Legislative Reference Bureau; and
27   
28        (5)  Slice Waste and Tape program;
29   
30   and
31   
32        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the representative of the
33   Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs is requested to
34   serve as the chairperson of the task force; and
35   
36        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force is requested
37   to:
38   
39        (1)  Invite participants as deemed necessary to effectuate
40             its purposes;
41   
42        (2)  Establish its own procedures.  The task force may
43             designate another chairperson according to those
44             procedures; and
45   
46        (3)  Convene on a regular basis;
47   
48   and
49   

 
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                                  S.C.R. NO.            109
                                                        
                                                        

 1        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that in carrying out its duties,
 2   the task force may request staff assistance from the Department
 3   of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, and other appropriate
 4   executive agencies; and
 5   
 6        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force is requested to
 7   develop policies representing the public interest in minimizing
 8   the burden that rules place on governmental and private
 9   productivity; and
10   
11        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force is requested to
12   develop guidelines and examples to integrate these policies
13   into the rulemaking process.  The guidelines and examples are
14   requested to:
15   
16        (1)  Be designed to assist rule drafters and revisers to
17             identify rules with unintended, undesirable effects
18             on governmental and private sector efficiency and
19             effectiveness;
20   
21        (2)  Be designed to encourage and enable rule drafters and
22             revisers to utilize less formal and inflexible
23             alternatives to rules, and to distinguish between
24             rules that are necessary and must be adopted, and
25             rules that may be adopted in the discretion of the
26             agency; and
27   
28        (3)  Include alternatives to the adoption of rules;
29   
30   and
31   
32        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that in order to give rule drafters
33   and revisers access to agency experience, the task force, where
34   possible, is requested to obtain and use examples of actual
35   problem agency rules, actual rules that have been adopted by
36   agencies as an alternative to these problem rules, and actual
37   non-rule alternatives that have been utilized by agencies; and
38   
39        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force is requested to
40   prepare legislation incorporating the policies into chapter 91,
41   Hawaii Revised Statutes, and providing for incorporation of the
42   guidelines and examples in the Hawaii Administrative Rules
43   Drafting Manual or other publications, as appropriate; and
44   

 
 
 
 
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                                  S.C.R. NO.            109
                                                        
                                                        

 1        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force is requested to
 2   submit the proposed legislation to the Legislature no later
 3   than twenty days before the convening of the Regular Session of
 4   2001; and
 5   
 6        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force cease to
 7   operate after the adjournment sine die of the 2001 regular
 8   session of the Legislature; and
 9   
10        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this
11   Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Lieutenant
12   Governor, the Director of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, the
13   Attorney General, the Business Advocate, and the Director of
14   the Legislative Reference Bureau.
15   
16 
17 
18 
19                         OFFERED BY:  ____________________________