Administrative Rules Agency Plan

iowa state flag

Iowa Ethics & Campaign Disclosure Board

Today is:-

Filing Electronically

AGENCY PLAN FOR REGULATORY REVIEW OF ADMINISTRATIVE RULES


The mission of the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board (Board) is to promote the public's trust and confidence in government by ensuring the integrity of political campaigns, the ethical standards for employees of the executive branch of state government and the lawful conduct of executive branch lobbyists. The Board understands that while it must fully enforce the statutes and rules under its jurisdiction, this enforcement should not discourage individuals from being involved in the political process or from seeking and maintaining employment with state government. In order to accomplish its Mission, the Board enforces the provisions of the "Campaign Disclosure-Income Tax Checkoff Act" in Iowa Code Chapter 68A, the "Iowa Public Officials Act" in Iowa Code Chapter 68B and the Board's administrative rules in Chapter 351 of the Iowa Administrative Code. Pursuant to the mandate of Executive Order 8, the Board will conduct a comprehensive review of its administrative rules to eliminate outdated, redundant, ineffective and unnecessary rules. The purpose of the review is to better serve the citizens of Iowa who come into contact with the Board and fall under the purview of its administrative rules.
I. Methodology used to determine if rules comply with Executive Order 8 standards:

A. The Board's Legal Counsel and the Board's Policy/Rules Subcommittee Chair,

Professor James A. Albert, Professor of Law at Drake University (Subcommittee Chair), will review each individual chapter of the Board's rules in Chapter 351.

B. Each chapter will first be reviewed by the Board's Legal Counsel and the Subcommittee Chair. A report of this review will then be submitted to the Policy/Rules Subcommittee and the Board's Executive Director. This report will take into account the following information:

1. Feedback from constituent groups and the public received by the Board.

2. Written complaints concerning rules during the past five years.

3. A review of Board policies that should be included in rule form.

4. The criteria set out in Executive Order 8 as follows:

a. Need:

(1) Is the rule necessary to comply with the statutes authorizing it?

(2) Is the rule obsolete, duplicative, or ambiguous to a degree that warrants repeal or revision?

(3) Have laws or other circumstances changed to the extent that the rule should be amended or repealed?

(4) Is the rule effective and necessary to carry out the Board's mission?

(5) Is the rule broader than necessary to accomplish its purpose or objective?

b. Clarity:

(1) Is the rule written and organized in a clear and concise manner so that it can be readily understood by those to whom it applies?

(2) Are there Board policies, written or unwritten, that need to be put into rule form that would help clarify the rule?

c. Intent and Statutory Authorization:

(1) Is the rule consistent with the legislative intent of the statutes that authorize it?

(2) Is the rule based upon sufficient statutory authority?

(3) Is there a need to develop additional legislative authorization in order to accomplish the Board's mission?

(4) Are there Board policies, written or unwritten, that should be put into rule form to better serve the public?

d. Cost:

(1) Have the qualitative and quantitative benefits of the rule been considered in relation to its costs?

(2) Do all of the qualitative and quantitative benefits exceed the costs of the rule?

(3) Is there a less burdensome way to achieve the intended result of the rule?

e. Fairness:

(1) Does the rule result in the equitable treatment of those required to comply with it?

(2) Is the rule in its application fair and predictable?

(3) Should the rule be modified to eliminate or minimize any disproportionate impacts on the regulated community?

(4) Are there Board policies, written or unwritten, that should be put into rule form to help ensure fairness to everyone coming into contact with the Board?

C. The Board's Policy/Rules Subcommittee and Executive Director shall then review the report submitted by Legal Counsel and the Subcommittee Chair. The Subcommittee and Executive Director may make any recommendations, modifications or direct further review as the members see fit. The Subcommittee shall then issue a report to the full Board.

D. The full Board shall then review both reports and make any recommendations, modifications or direct further review as the members see fit.

E. The Board shall then submit any and all findings to the Office of the Governor as required by Executive Order 8.

F. The Board shall provide a copy of its Agency Plan and all reports to any person who files a request.

G. The Board shall then initiate the rule making process to carry out the findings of the various reports.

H. During this review process, the Board's Executive Director will obtain from staff all policies, written or unwritten, that are currently being enforced. A determination will then be made during the rules review process on which policies should be put into rule form.

II. Steps to encourage public participation in the review process:

A. Copy of agency plan shall be published on Board web site along with invitation for public input.

B. Information will be provided to anyone having requests on file for notification of rule changes.

C. Copy of agency plan shall be sent to major constituency groups as determined by Executive Director, Legal Counsel and Subcommittee Chair.

D. Invitations for public input shall be given at all meetings and conferences involving constituents and public.

E. All written complaints during the past five years will be noted and considered.

III. Board may require an exception to these requirements in the following instance:

A. Rules mandated by state or federal law and over which the Board does not have the power or legal right to change or modify. The Board will note such instances in its Final Report.
IV. Process for on-going review of rules after the initial period has expired:

A. The Board will comply with the appropriate requirements and provisions of Executive Order 8.

B. The Board will review all future rules under the criteria set out in Executive Order 8 and the principles stated in this document.

C. The Board will comply with the regulatory principles in Executive Order 9.

D. The Board will make its personnel available to the Committee set out in Executive Order 10.

E. Any problems cited by the Board or the public it serves will be reviewed under the principles set out in Executive Order 8 and Executive Order 9.

F. The Board will continue to monitor policies, written or unwritten, that should be put into rule form. Said rule making shall comply with the principles set out in Executive Order 8 and Executive Order 9.

G. The Board will otherwise comply with all of the principles, timelines and filings required by Executive Order 8 and Executive Order 9.

V. Schedule for rule groupings review:

Chapter 351

A. Chapter 1 "Complaint, Investigation Resolution"

B. Chapter 2 "Election Campaign Fund"

C. Chapter 3 "County Commissioners of Elections"

D. Chapter 4 "Campaign Disclosure Procedures"

E. Chapter 5 "Ethics & Campaign Disclosure Board"

F. Chapter 6 "Civil Penalties"

G. Chapter 7 "Contested Case Procedures"

H. Chapter 8 "Petitions for Rule Making"

I. Chapter 9 "Declaratory Order"

J. Chapter 10 "Public Records and Fair Information Practices"

K. Chapter 11 "Personal Financial Disclosure"

L. Chapter 12 "Codes of Conduct"

M. Chapter 13 "Executive Branch Lobbyists"

Legal Counsel/
Subcommittee Chair

5-2001


5-2001

5-2001


5-2001


5-2001

5-2001

5-2001

5-2001

5-2001

5-2001


5-2001

5-2001

5-2001


Subcommittee

7-2001


7-2001

7-2001


7-2001


7-2001

7-2001

7-2001

7-2001

7-2001

7-2001


7-2001

7-2001

7-2001


Board

9-2001


9-2001

9-2001


9-2001


9-2001

9-2001

9-2001

9-2001

9-2001

9-2001


9-2001

9-2001

9-2001

N. Chapter 14 (Adoption by reference of uniform rule on Agency Procedure for Rule Making) with no review needed.

O. Chapter 15 (Uniform Waiver Rules still in rule making process) and no review needed.

VI. Explanation of projected timeline:

A. The Board believes that sufficient time should be afforded to this project. As such, the timeline allows a great deal of time for a thorough review, yet complies with the filing report deadline of November 1, 2001.

B. The dates used above are when the reports will be issued. In May of 2001, Legal Counsel and Subcommittee Chair will issue the initial review report to the Policy/Rules Subcommittee and Executive Director. In July of 2001, the Subcommittee and Executive Director will issue its report on the initial review report. In September of 2001, the full Board will issue its Final Report. This still allows two additional months for further review before the November filing deadline.

C. The timeline ensures that sufficient time will be given to the public and Board constituents to provide comments. As this is an "election year", several comments will probably be made between the period of May and November of 2000. The Board wants to be able to digest these comments and make them part of the review.

D. The timeline allows sufficient time between each step for the proper review of the submitted report. The Board believes that the Subcommittee/Executive Director review and the final Board review should be of a substantive nature, and not simply a "rubber stamp" of prior work.

E. The timeline takes into account that this year is an "election cycle" and the main focus of the Board's staff will be on that project. While the review process will be conducted during this time, the Board wants to ensure that proper focus and attention will be spent on the review process.

VII. Amount of agency time and resources spent on project:

A. The requirements of Executive Order 8 are a project the Board had already begun to initiate. Therefore, Executive Order 8 does not create an additional impact. Burden on staff, other then the Board's Legal Counsel, is minimal. The Board's Executive Director has already initiated the process of obtaining all policies not currently in rule form. Most of the initial review done by Legal Counsel and Subcommittee Chair will be conducted after normal working hours, but Legal Counsel is not compensated for that time. The review of the initial report by the Subcommittee and Executive Director will be done on their own time. The Subcommittee/Executive Director report on the initial report will take place at the normally scheduled Subcommittee meetings. The same is true of the review of both reports and issuance of the Final Report by the Board.

Contact information for comments on current Board Rules

last updated: June 29, 2007

Site Index | Main