PRINTER'S NO. 771
No. 691 Session of 1977
INTRODUCED BY LEHR AND MANMILLER, MARCH 23, 1977
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT, MARCH 23, 1977
AN ACT
1 Providing for the periodic expiration of all agencies and
2 establishing a system for periodic review to determine which
3 shall be reestablished.
4 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
5 hereby enacts as follows:
6 Section 1. Short title.
7 This act shall be known and may be cited as the
8 "Administrative Agency Review Act."
9 Section 2. Definitions.
10 The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
11 have, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the
12 meanings given to them in this section:
13 "Agency." Any legislatively created unit of State Government
14 not a department or board of trustees.
15 Section 3. Review by Joint State Government Commission.
16 The Joint State Government Commission herein called the
17 "commission" shall periodically review all agencies to provide
18 the data base for the General Assembly to determine if the
19 agencies should be reestablished.
1 Section 4. Agency Review Commission.
2 (a) The commission shall consider the following factors in
3 reviewing an agency:
4 (1) With respect to a licensing agency, the extent to
5 which it has permitted qualified applicants to serve the
6 public.
7 (2) The efficiency of the agency.
8 (3) The extent to which the operation of the agency has
9 been impeded or enhanced by existing statutes or any other
10 circumstances, including budgetary, resource and personal
11 matters.
12 (4) The manner and efficiency with which formal public
13 complaints filed with the agency concerning persons subject
14 to regulation have been processed to completion.
15 (5) The extent to which other agencies have similar
16 objectives, along with a comparison of the cost and
17 effectiveness of such agencies and any duplication of effort
18 with respect to the agency under review.
19 (6) The extent to which changes are necessary in the
20 enabling laws of the agency to enable it to adequately comply
21 with the factors listed in this section.
22 (7) The extent to which the objectives of the agency
23 have been achieved in comparison with the objectives
24 initially set forth for the agency.
25 (8) The impact of the agency's activities on the economy
26 of the Commonwealth.
27 (9) The cost of the agency compared with the public
28 benefit it renders.
29 (b) Every department or agency of the State Government shall
30 submit such information as it may have when so requested by the
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1 commission.
2 (c) The commission shall submit a report of each review to
3 each member of the General Assembly. In this report the
4 commission shall recommend whether the agency undergoing review
5 should be reestablished.
6 Section 5. Schedule for review and expiration of agencies.
7 All agencies shall be divided into six groups based on
8 similarity of function and any other criteria that the
9 commission may deem appropriate. Each of the six groups shall be
10 scheduled by the commission to expire at the end of a different
11 fiscal year over a six-year period. Reviews shall be completed
12 at least three months before the scheduled expiration of the
13 agency concerned. Unless otherwise provided by statute,
14 reestablished and newly created agencies shall be reviewed at
15 least three months before the end of their sixth year of
16 existence or reestablishment.
17 Section 6. Public hearings.
18 The commission shall conduct public hearings, receiving
19 testimony from the public and the agencies involved, at which
20 each agency shall have the burden of proving the public need for
21 its continued existence. A report of each hearing shall be
22 included in the reports to be submitted to each member of the
23 General Assembly.
24 Section 7. Limited continuation after expiration.
25 Upon expiration, every agency shall continue in existence
26 until the end of the next fiscal year for the purpose of winding
27 up its affairs.
28 Section 8. Reestablishment of agencies.
29 Any agency reestablished by the General Assembly and any
30 newly created agency shall, unless the enabling legislation
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1 states otherwise, have a life not to exceed six years and shall
2 be subject to the provisions of this act.
3 Section 9. Legislation for reestablishment of agencies.
4 No more than one agency shall be reestablished in any bill,
5 and such agency shall be mentioned in the bill's title.
6 Section 10. Terms of office of appointees to agencies.
7 If an agency is not reestablished prior to the date of its
8 scheduled expiration, the terms of office of appointees to that
9 agency shall expire with the expiration of the agency.
10 Section 11. Causes of action.
11 This act shall not cause the dismissal of any claim or right
12 of a citizen against any agency or any claim or right of an
13 agency expiring under this act which is subject to litigation
14 and which claim or right is not rendered moot by the expiration
15 of the agency.
16 Section 12. Disposal of records and property; personnel;
17 appropriations.
18 (a) Records and property of an expired agency shall be
19 transferred to the department of which it was a part; or, if it
20 was an independent agency, to the Department of General Services
21 for appropriate disposal.
22 (b) The employment of all personnel of the expired agency
23 shall be terminated: Provided, however, That this subsection
24 shall not be construed to prohibit the employees from applying
25 for and being employed by other agencies or departments to fill
26 job vacancies.
27 (c) All appropriations to and funds of the agency not spent
28 or encumbered shall lapse when the existence of the agency ends.
29 Section 13. Effective date.
30 This act shall take effect immediately.
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