Analyze Bill Language and Testimony (19)
Description:
This task includes reviewing the language of legislation and any related testimony for their implications for a RUC program, as well as reviewing the scope of rulemaking activities. Bills that pass legislatures seldom have the precise language planned by the original authors. Committees often edit bills before they are passed to the main legislative body, and amendments are made as the bill is debated on the floor of the legislature. Thus, the language of the bill as passed most likely will not be the exact language planned, and the bill’s interpretation will be further influenced by the debate on the legislative floor. Therefore, even if the bill language was precisely planned, post-legislative analysis is required to determine all legal, regulatory, and policy implications of the bill.
Details:
A lawyer familiar with statute in the given state reviews the bill language and any relevant testimony and outlines the precise legal requirements, including any formal rulemaking needed and the agency or other entity responsible for implementing those requirements. The lawyer may also point out any likely interpretations of the bill in places where the language may not be especially precise.
Primary Use:
Formally determine regulatory and other requirements after a bill is passed.
Best Practices/Lessons Learned:
- Some states typically put relatively little detail into the statute, leaving rulemaking to the authorized agency. Others tend to specify many details in the statute, leaving little rulemaking authority for the authorized agency. In states that put great detail into the statute, the legal analysis may be relatively straightforward. In states that put less detail into the statute, this legal analysis may be more extensive/complex.
- The importance of testimony analysis may vary. In states where great detail is put into the bill, and there was relatively little testimony, analysis of testimony may not be important or needed.
- Because each state operates differently, the lawyer performing this review should have familiarity with state government and statute, particularly state transportation and revenue statute.
- Separate bills may be necessary for commercial and passenger vehicle RUC-system legislation.
State Government Context and Assumptions:
This step may be completed by the state attorney general’s office or by another appropriate lawyer. This task is completed after the bill passes the legislature and is signed by the governor.