PHOENIX (AZFamily)— In Arizona, voters will have their say on 13 statewide ballot initiatives, including Proposition 315.

If passed, Proposition 315 would change the number of rules and regulations approved in Arizona. There are thousands of different rules for more than 100 public agencies.

“It brings control of overregulation by unelected bureaucrats back to the legislative branch,” said Ed Phillips, a former Republican state senator.

Phillips favors Accessory 315which could ultimately give the state Legislature the final say on future state rules and regulations.

Currently, in Arizona, any proposed rule must accept public comment for at least 30 days before submitting a final rule to the Governor’s Regulatory Review Board. There is also a bipartisan oversight committee called the Administrative Rules Oversight Committee which can also review any normative action to ensure that it complies with the law and the intention of the legislator.

“Checks and balances are already in place,” says Pinny Sheoran, president of the League of Women Voters of Arizona. “What we have done in this very partisan time is increase the opportunity for partisan fighting that will cripple agency capacity.”

Sheoran opposes Proposition 315, which would require a state agency to submit a proposed rule to the Office of Economic Opportunity if it is estimated to increase regulatory costs by more than $100,000 in the first five years following its implementation. If the OEO’s review finds that the proposed rule would increase regulatory costs by more than $500,000, then the state Legislature must ratify it.

“So what happens in a perfect world, everything would be exactly what the legislature intended, but in some cases it just gets out of control,” Phillips said.

“This allows for an intrusion by the legislature into something for which it has neither the expertise nor the capacity to react quickly,” argues Sheoran.

Proposition 315 would not impact emergency rules or Corporation Commission rules.

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