Bill would boost legislative input and public participation in agency rulemaking, sponsor says

Representative David Beatty, sponsor of House Bill 126, told the House State Administration Committee the bill would amend the Montana Administrative Procedure Act to increase legislative involvement in agency rulemaking and to encourage greater public engagement in rules hearings.

“[T]his bill has two objectives,” Beatty said. “One is to ensure greater involvement of the legislature in the rulemaking process. The second objective is to encourage more public engagement during rules hearings.” He said the bill would require agencies to publish primary sponsors’ unredacted comments alongside pre-hearing and adoption notices and would give members of the public the opportunity before a rules hearing to request that an agency make a presentation explaining proposed rules.

Beatty said he met with members of the executive branch after filing the bill and accepted suggested changes to make the proposal more workable; an amendment reflecting those changes was circulated to the committee.

No proponents or opponents offered in-person or online testimony beyond the sponsor; the committee had no informational witnesses. Beatty urged the committee to consider the distributed amendment during executive action and said he would recommend a do-pass with the amendment, emphasizing he sought to preserve the bill’s objectives while addressing mechanical concerns raised by agencies.

No executive action or vote on House Bill 126 was recorded during the hearing.