PRINTER'S NO. 1005
No. 886 Session of 1977
INTRODUCED BY FISCHER, APRIL 18, 1977
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT, APRIL 18, 1977
AN ACT
1 Providing for the periodic expiration of certain 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 "Sunset Act."
8 Section 2. Legislative findings.
9 The General Assembly finds that State Government has produced
10 an increase in numbers of agencies, growth of programs, and
11 proliferation of rules and regulations and that the whole
12 process developed without adequate accountability or legislative
13 oversight. The General Assembly declares its intent to establish
14 a reasonable and orderly mechanism for the review of the public
15 need for the continued existence of those agencies.
16 Section 3. Definition.
17 As used in this act:
18 "Agency" means any agency, board, commission, council,
19 bureau, authority, or office which has regulatory or
1 administrative responsibilities involving the utilization of
2 State or Federal funds and is specifically listed in section 4.
3 Section 4. Termination of agencies.
4 All agencies shall be divided into six groups. Each of the
5 six groups shall be scheduled to expire at the end of a
6 different fiscal year over a six-year period. The following
7 agencies shall wind up their affairs and go out of existence
8 according to the following schedule:
9 (1) Agencies to be continued, modified, reorganized or
10 terminated by July 1, 1978:
11 State Lottery Commission
12 Bicentennial Commission of Pennsylvania
13 State Farm Products Show Commission
14 Milk Marketing Board
15 Professional Standards and Practices Commission
16 State Board of Cosmetology
17 State Board of Barber Examiners
18 State Board of Nursing Home Administrators
19 State Board of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers, Dealers
20 and Salesmen
21 State Real Estate Commission
22 Pennsylvania Securities Commission
23 Bureau of Air Quality and Noise Control
24 Water and Power Resources Board
25 Sanitary Water Board
26 State Veterans Commission
27 (2) Agencies to be continued, modified, reorganized or
28 terminated by July 1, 1979:
29 State Harness Racing Commission
30 State Horse Racing Commission
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1 Pennsylvania Fish Commission
2 Pennsylvania Game Commission
3 State Board of Examiners of Architects
4 State Board of Landscape Architects
5 State Board of Auctioneer Examiners
6 State Board of Private Academic Schools
7 State Board of Private Business Schools
8 State Board of Private Correspondence Schools
9 State Board of Private Trade Schools
10 Mine Inspectors Examining Boards
11 Citizens Advisory Council (DER)
12 Environmental Quality Board
13 Environmental Hearing Board
14 (3) Agencies to be continued, modified, reorganized or
15 terminated by July 1, 1980:
16 Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board
17 Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission
18 Pennsylvania Drug, Device, and Cosmetic Board
19 State Board of Pharmacy
20 State Board of Optometrical Examiners
21 State Board of Osteopathic Examiners
22 State Board of Nurse Examiners
23 State Board of Examiners of Nursing Home
24 Administrators
25 Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission
26 Highway Professional Personnel Board
27 Hazardous Substances Transportation Board
28 State Transportation Commission
29 State Board for the Examination of Public Accountants
30 State Civil Service Commission
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1 State Board of Public Welfare
2 (4) Agencies to be continued, modified, reorganized or
3 terminated by July 1, 1981:
4 State Conservation Commission
5 Soil Conservation Commission
6 Flood Control Commission
7 Governor's Energy Council
8 Coal Research Board
9 State Athletic Commission
10 Pennsylvania Independent Athletic Association
11 State Board of Education
12 State Council of Education
13 Board of State College and University Directors
14 Commission on Charitable Organizations
15 State Council of Civil Defense
16 Public Safety Commission
17 Pennsylvania Commission for Women
18 Governor's Council on Drug and Alcohol Abuse
19 (5) Agencies to be continued, modified, reorganized or
20 terminated by July 1, 1982:
21 State Board of Chiropractic Examiners
22 State Board of Podiatry
23 State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners
24 Pennsylvania Board of Psychologist Examiners
25 Mobile Home Standards Advisory Commission
26 State Registration Board for Professional Engineers
27 State Board of Funeral Directors
28 State Board for Certification of Sewage Treatment
29 Plant and Waterworks Operators
30 State Board for Certification of Sewage Enforcement
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1 Officers
2 Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board
3 Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission
4 State Board of Vocational Rehabilitation
5 Pennsylvania Industrial Development Authority
6 Industrial Board
7 Banking Board
8 (6) Agencies to be continued, modified, reorganized or
9 terminated by July 1, 1983:
10 Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
11 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Council on the Arts
12 State Art Commission
13 State Planning Board
14 Pennsylvania Parkway Commission
15 Advisory Health Board
16 Advisory Committee for Clinical Laboratories
17 Comprehensive Health Planning Advisory Council
18 State Dental Council and Examining Board
19 State Board of Medical Education and Licensure
20 State Board of Undertakers
21 Board of Property
22 Building and Loan Board
23 Board of Censors
24 Governor's Justice Commission
25 Section 5. Terms of office for members of agencies.
26 Notwithstanding any law now or hereafter enacted, except as
27 to agencies reestablished or recreated by any statute hereafter
28 approved, the terms of all officers and members of any agency
29 shall end on the same date as the agency set forth in section 4.
30 Section 6. Limited continuation after expiration.
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1 Upon expiration, each agency shall continue in existence
2 until the end of the next succeeding fiscal year for the purpose
3 of winding up its affairs.
4 Section 7. Procedure for agency evaluation.
5 (a) At the beginning of each fiscal year, the Majority
6 Leader of the Senate, Majority Leader of the House, Minority
7 Leader of the Senate, Minority Leader of the House or their
8 designated alternatives, acting as the "Joint Review
9 Coordinating Committee," shall study the standing committee
10 oversight structure, recommend any necessary changes to that
11 structure, and assign the responsibility for the review and
12 evaluation of each agency scheduled for termination at the end
13 of that fiscal year to the appropriate standing committee of the
14 Senate and the House of Representatives, which will act jointly
15 to implement this act.
16 (b) The standing committees, when designated by the Joint
17 Review Coordinating Committee, in conjunction with
18 representatives of the agency being evaluated, the Budget
19 Office, the Auditor General's office, the legislative service
20 agencies and the staff of the Appropriations Committees, shall
21 develop a plan for the review and evaluation of each agency. The
22 results of any recent audits, reviews, or budget reports of the
23 agency shall be available to the standing committees at this
24 time.
25 (c) The standing committees shall first consider the need
26 for the continued existence of the agency by evaluating the
27 agency with respect to the following criteria:
28 (1) Would the absence of the agency significantly harm
29 or endanger the public health, safety, or welfare?
30 (2) Does the agency operate in a manner designed for the
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1 purpose of, and having as its primary effect, service to the
2 public?
3 (3) Are rules and regulations promulgated by the agency
4 consistent with the legislative mandate? Are any of the rules
5 likely to have the effect of unduly restricting competition
6 or serving the interests of special interest groups rather
7 than those of the public?
8 (4) Has the agency actively sought to involve the public
9 in its rule making and standard setting? How responsive has
10 the agency been to public views?
11 (5) Has the agency been accountable by:
12 (i) regularly filing required reports which have
13 been informative and serving the public interest?
14 (ii) making an effort to keep the legislature, press
15 and public informed of its activities and inviting the
16 public to come in with its problems?
17 (iii) proposing legislative changes to enable it to
18 better serve the public?
19 (d) If the agency oversees licensing or similar functions,
20 then the following criteria should also be considered in the
21 evaluation specified in subsection (c):
22 (1) Are all requirements for licensure clearly related
23 to safe and effective practice or are they unnecessarily
24 restrictive or exclusionary?
25 (2) Are the written and performance examinations based
26 on an up-to-date job analysis? Do the procedures used in
27 developing, administering, scoring and determining pass
28 points on tests meet accepted professional standards? Is
29 there evidence that these tests and other screening
30 procedures are objective, reliable and valid?
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1 (3) How responsive has the agency been to complaints of
2 consumers? What action has the agency taken to resolve
3 complaints that might properly come within its jurisdiction?
4 What has been the record of the agency with respect to the
5 disciplining of practitioners? How many licenses have been
6 revoked over the past three years for reasons of fraud,
7 incompetence, or unethical practices?
8 (4) What steps has the agency taken to encourage an
9 adequate supply of practitioners? What policy does the agency
10 pursue with respect to out-of-state and foreign trained
11 applicants? Are these policies unfairly exclusionary?
12 (e) The standing committees shall hold joint public hearings
13 to obtain information from the agency itself, order entities of
14 the State Government with relevant information, and the public.
15 They shall have power to subpoena witnesses, books, records and
16 documents and to procure depositions for use in these public
17 hearings.
18 (f) Not less than 90 days prior to the conclusion of the
19 fiscal year, but subsequent to the completion of public
20 hearings, the standing committees shall issue a joint final
21 report recommending the continuation, modification,
22 reorganization, or termination of the agency and, unless
23 termination is recommended, sponsor a bill or bills to implement
24 those recommendations. Should any bill or bills to continue,
25 modify or reorganize pass finally, then the agency shall
26 continue.
27 Section 8. Reestablishment of agencies.
28 Any agency scheduled for termination under this act may be
29 reestablished by the General Assembly for periods not to exceed
30 six years.
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1 Section 9. Legislation for the reestablishment of agencies.
2 No more than one agency shall be reestablished in any bill
3 and such agency shall be mentioned on the bill's title. Bills to
4 reestablish shall specify the conditions, if any, for
5 modification or reorganization of the agency's operation.
6 Section 10. Terms of office of appointees to agencies.
7 The terms of office of appointees to agencies shall expire
8 with the termination of their respective agencies, but the terms
9 of appointees who were appointed before termination to terms
10 which would run beyond the termination but for this section
11 shall not expire if the agency is reestablished.
12 Section 11. Causes of action.
13 This act shall not cause the dismissal of any claim or right
14 of a citizen against any agency or any claim or right of any
15 agency terminating under this act which is subject to
16 litigation.
17 Section 12. Zero-based review and evaluation.
18 In conjunction with the criteria enumerated in section 5, one
19 criterion which shall be used in determining sufficient public
20 need in such public hearings shall be a zero-based review and
21 evaluation. A zero-based review and evaluation shall be a
22 comprehensive review and evaluation to determine if the merits
23 of an agency support continuation rather than termination and
24 reach a finding as to what amounts of funding, if any, shall be
25 authorized to produce correspondingly greater or lesser levels
26 of service output. Such a procedure shall necessitate the review
27 and evaluation of all powers, duties, and functions which
28 currently adhere to an agency as well as any request for
29 additions to said powers, duties, or functions when reviewing
30 the sufficient public need of an agency. Said zero-based review
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1 and evaluation shall include, but not be limited to, the
2 following factors:
3 (1) an identification of other governmental agencies
4 having the same or similar objectives along with a comparison
5 of the cost and effectiveness of said agencies and any
6 duplication of the agency under review;
7 (2) any identification of any agency which has not
8 received and expended State tax dollar revenues within a
9 period of two years prior to said hearings;
10 (3) an examination of the extent to which the objectives
11 of the agency have been achieved in comparison with the
12 objectives as initially set forth in the enabling legislation
13 and an analysis of any significant variance between projected
14 and actual performance;
15 (4) a specification, to the extent feasible, in
16 quantitative terms, of the objectives of said agency for the
17 next six years; and
18 (5) an examination of the impact of said agency on the
19 economy of the Commonwealth.
20 Section 13. Effective date.
21 This act shall take effect immediately.
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