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S 3202Public Services

State Affairs and Government - Administrative Procedures

This bill simplifies how state agencies renew their existing rules every five years by requiring a simple electronic confirmation.

Signed into law59 Yea6 Nay10 Not voting
Population
Affected
25
Email Legislator
Introduced Apr 3, 2026Committee Senate Judiciary

Plain-English Summary

This bill simplifies the process state agencies use to keep their existing rules and regulations active. Previously, agencies had to formally refile all their rules every five years and publish a 30-day notice in newspapers. Under this legislation, agencies only need to submit an electronic notice every five years confirming that they have reviewed their rules and that they remain in effect. Any actual changes, additions, or removals of rules will still require the standard public rulemaking process.

For younger readers

Imagine if you had a list of house rules, and every five years you had to rewrite the whole list and put an ad in the newspaper just to say the rules haven't changed. That takes a lot of time! This bill changes the law for government offices so they don't have to do that anymore. Now, they can just send a quick computer message every five years saying, "We checked our rules, and they are still the same." If they actually want to change a rule, they still have to follow the normal steps.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups
State agenciesSecretary of StateNewspaper publishersGovernment watchdogsRhode Island residents
Impacted communities
All

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

None Likely. This bill merely updates internal administrative procedures for how state agencies confirm their existing rules. It clearly preserves the standard rulemaking process for any actual changes, ensuring due process and public participation rights are maintained for newly adopted or amended regulations.

Estimated cost
None
Estimated revenue
None

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints
For Progressives
  • Reduces bureaucratic waste and administrative burdens, allowing state agencies to redirect time and resources toward providing essential public services and social safety net programs.
  • Modernizes government operations by shifting from outdated newspaper publications to efficient electronic notices, reflecting a more systemic and environmentally friendly approach to administrative procedures.
  • Maintains transparency and public protection by ensuring that any actual changes, additions, or repeals to rules still require the full, standard public rulemaking process, preserving the public's right to participate.
  • Removes the requirement to publish a 30-day advance public notice in newspapers, which could reduce awareness among marginalized populations or elderly individuals who lack reliable internet access.
  • Eliminates the requirement for agencies to publicly announce which specific rules they will not be refiling, potentially allowing harmful or regressive rules to quietly persist without public scrutiny.
  • Decreases the frequency of mandatory, highly visible public check-ins on existing regulations, potentially reducing opportunities for grassroots organizations to easily challenge systemic issues embedded in older rules.
For Conservatives
  • Cuts unnecessary red tape and bureaucratic inefficiency by eliminating the redundant process of formally refiling rules that have not changed.
  • Reduces government spending by removing the costly mandate for state agencies to publish lengthy 30-day public notices in general circulation newspapers.
  • Streamlines the administrative state by modernizing the regulatory confirmation process, making government operations leaner and more cost-effective for taxpayers.
  • Makes it easier for administrative agencies to keep existing, potentially burdensome regulations on the books indefinitely with just a simple electronic confirmation.
  • Removes the 30-day public notice requirement, reducing the ability of businesses and citizens to formally review and challenge existing rules before they are renewed.
  • Diminishes transparency by eliminating the published list of rules that an agency intends not to refile, making it harder for watchdogs to track the regulatory environment.

Votes

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Full Bill Text

Changes to existing Rhode Island law · 12 additions · 17 deletions

It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

SECTION 1. Section 42-35-4.1 of the General Laws in Chapter 42-35 entitled "Administrative Procedures" is hereby amended to read as follows: 42-35-4.1. Refiling of rules and regulations Confirmation of effective rules and regulations.

(a) Each agency shall, on or before January 2, 2002 on the first Tuesday in January of every successive fifth year, according to a schedule and process specified by the secretary of state, file with the secretary of state an electronic list of notice listing all its lawfully adopted rules that are in force on the date of the filing said notice attesting that all its lawfully adopted rules have been reviewed by the agency and thereby confirm all its lawfully adopted rules shall remain effective as previously promulgated. Notwithstanding the electronic notice and the filing thereof as prescribed in this section, any adoption, amendment, repeal, or other promulgation activity, as defined in § 42- 35-1, shall be undertaken only in accordance with the rulemaking process set forth in this chapter.

(b) Each agency shall give notice thirty (30) days prior to refiling any rule or regulation in order to comply with this section. Each agency shall also give notice, thirty (30) days prior to that agency’s due date for refiling, of which rules and regulations it shall not be refiling. The notices shall include a statement of the intended action and a description of the subjects and issues involved. The public notice of the refile shall be provided to all persons who have made timely request of the agency for advance notice of its rulemaking proceedings, and published in a newspaper, or newspapers, having aggregate general circulation throughout the state.

(c) Agency compliance with this section shall be coordinated in accordance with a schedule established by the secretary of state for agency refiling of rules.

SECTION 2. Section 42-35-4.2 of the General Laws in Chapter 42-35 entitled "Administrative Procedures" is hereby repealed. 42-35-4.2. Periodic refiling of rules and regulations. All rules on file with the secretary of state pursuant to § 42-35-4.1 shall be refiled on the first Tuesday in January 2007 and on the first Tuesday in January of every successive fifth year.

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage.