Provides relative to the promulgation of rules pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act (OR INCREASE GF EX See Note)

HB 709 amends the Louisiana Administrative Procedure Act by imposing new requirements on state agencies in the rulemaking process and strengthening legislative oversight. The bill requires that whenever an agency proposes to adopt a new rule, it must simultaneously identify and give notice of its intention to repeal two existing rules of that agency. Additionally, the bill establishes an automatic expiration mechanism for all rules adopted through nonemergency procedures, providing that such rules shall expire on June 30th of the year following the year of their adoption unless the legislature enacts legislation to continue the rule to a specific date or indefinitely. The bill also removes the existing provision that failure by an oversight subcommittee to conduct a hearing or make a determination on a proposed rule does not affect the validity of an otherwise properly adopted rule, thereby making legislative review a substantive requirement rather than a discretionary procedural step.

The bill affects all executive branch agencies that promulgate rules under the Administrative Procedure Act, as well as standing committees and their oversight subcommittees in both houses of the legislature. Agencies will face increased administrative burden in identifying rules for repeal whenever they propose new rules and must actively manage the lifecycle of their rules given the sunset provision. Legislative oversight committees gain mandatory authority to conduct hearings on proposed rules and annual rulemaking reports, shifting these from permissive to required actions. The practical effect is that legislative committees now bear responsibility for reviewing all agency rulemaking activities, with the implicit leverage that rules lacking proper legislative oversight may be subject to challenge. Agencies cannot rely on legislative inaction or committee silence to validate their rulemaking, as the removal of the safe harbor provision eliminates the automatic validity that previously existed when oversight proceedings were not completed.

The bill operates within the existing statutory framework of the Administrative Procedure Act codified in Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 49, which has long established procedures for agency notice, public comment, and legislative notification of proposed rules. The expiration mechanism in new R.S. 49:965(C) creates a legislative continuance requirement that effectively places all agency rules on a periodic review cycle tied to legislative sessions, anchoring the bill in Louisiana's constitutional scheme of legislative authority over administrative action. The amendments to R.S. 49:961 and 966 modify existing notice requirements and oversight procedures without fundamentally restructuring the APA, but they do elevate legislative committee review from a discretionary oversight function to a mandatory validation mechanism, thereby increasing legislative control over executive rulemaking within Louisiana's separation of powers framework.