A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO REQUIRE THE Social SERVICES Commission of the DIVISION of Social services TO REVIEW policies, guidelines, and other interpretive statements and submit a report to the office of administrative hearings.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  No later than May 31, 2022, the North Carolina Division of Social Services (Division), by and through the Division's Social Services Commission (Commission), shall prepare and submit for review to the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) a comprehensive report of all its policies, guidelines, and other interpretive statements. This includes all policies, guidelines, and other interpretive statements that the Division or any of its subdivisions has sought to implement or enforce that may directly or substantially affect the procedural or substantive rights or duties of persons not employed by the Division or any of its subdivisions. The report shall include an explanation for any policies, guidelines, and other interpretive statements not adopted as rules the Commission believes are not in violation of G.S. 150B‑18. The report shall not include any emergency, temporary, or permanent rules adopted by the Division in accordance with Article 2A of Chapter 150B of the General Statutes.
SECTION 2.  Upon submission of its report to the OAH, the Commission shall jointly review the report with the OAH to identify any policies, guidelines, and other interpretive statements that are in violation of G.S. 150B‑18. If there is disagreement between the Commission and the OAH regarding any policies, guidelines, or other interpretive statements identified in the report as being in violation of G.S. 150B‑18, then the OAH shall refer the policy, guideline, or other interpretive statement in disagreement to the Rules Review Commission (RRC). Upon referral from the OAH, the RRC shall review the policy, guideline, or other interpretive statement in disagreement and make a determination as to whether it is in violation of G.S. 150B‑18. If the Commission disagrees with a determination by the RRC as to whether any policy, guideline, or other interpretive statement is in violation of G.S. 150B‑18, the Commission may file an action for declaratory judgment in Wake County Superior Court pursuant to Article 26 of Chapter 1 of the General Statutes.
SECTION 3.  To ensure that administration of the Division shall continue without interruption, any policies, guidelines, or other interpretive statements identified through joint review by the Commission and the OAH, or determined by the RRC in Section 2 as being in violation of G.S. 150B‑18, shall be deemed interim rules so long as they do not conflict with any provisions of the General Statutes. Any interim rule authorized by this section shall become void July 1, 2023, if the Commission has failed to adopt that interim rule as a permanent rule by that date in accordance with Article 2A of Chapter 150B of the General Statutes. A reviewing court may extend the interim rule period pending the outcome of its review if the Commission has filed an action for declaratory judgment under Section 2. Any policy, guideline, or other interpretive statement issued by the Division after this act becomes effective shall become void one year after it is issued; however, prior to that deadline, the Secretary of Health and Human Services may reissue the policy, guideline, or other interpretive statement for an additional period of one year. No policy, guideline, or other interpretative statement may be reissued more than once by the Secretary of Health and Human Services under this section.
SECTION 4.  This act is effective when it becomes law.