New bill setting periodic reviews for rules seen as regulatory reform

Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke says his new bill aimed at setting up periodic reviews of administrative rules would help lawmakers avoid the “logistical nightmare” of conducting those reviews all at once.

Steineke, R-Kaukauna, said Republicans have learned that trying to “review all 1,100 pages of administrative rules at one time is practically impossible.”

Steineke’s bill, which he co-authored with Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, would have lawmakers review individual chapters of the Wisconsin Administrative Code every seven years — and let rules that aren’t re-adopted expire.

The two wrote in a co-sponsorship memo to lawmakers that more consistent reviews are needed, because as time goes on, regulations “become outdated and harmful to both individual freedom and economic productivity.”

The bill is getting praise from business groups, with Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce calling it “one of the most significant regulatory reforms in a generation.”

“This legislation would build on the great work that has been done over the past six years to improve Wisconsin’s regulatory climate and push back on the ever-growing regulatory state,” said WMC President and CEO Kurt Bauer.

Other groups supporting the bill include the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce and the conservative Americans for Prosperity-Wisconsin.

But Senate Minority Leader Jennifer Shilling, D-La Crosse, pointed to those groups’ support and said it’s “no secret who’s behind this Republican bill.”

“This proposal is another special interest giveaway that would jeopardize our clean water protections, weaken financial safeguards and undermine workplace fairness rules,” she said.

See the bill:
http://www.wispolitics.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/170515SteinekeDarlingBill.pdf