Amends TCA Title 4.

This bill broadens the venue under the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act for judicial review of agency declaratory orders, and suits for declaratory judgment, concerning the validity or applicability of a statute, rule, or order from the chancery court of Davidson County specifically to chancery court generally. Under present law, administrative rules promulgated pursuant to the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act expire on June 30 of the year following the rule's filing unless legislatively continued to a date certain or indefinitely. Customarily, rules are continued indefinitely in the annual Rules Omnibus Bill. This bill schedules all rules filed with the secretary of state on or after July 1, 2021, to expire eight years from their effective date. This bill also authorizes the government operations committee of the house of representatives or senate to request an agency to, with regard to rules filed at any time: (1) Repromulgate a rule that has been in effect for eight or more years; or (2) Repeal a rule deemed obsolete by one or both of the committees or the agency. If an agency that is requested to repromulgate a rule does not initiate the rulemaking process within 90 days of the request, the committee may vote to request the general assembly to suspend any or all of the agency or related agency's rulemaking authority for any reasonable period of time or with respect to any subject matter, by legislative enactment. ON APRIL 1, 2021, THE HOUSE ADOPTED AMENDMENTS #1 AND #2 AND PASSED HOUSE BILL 566, AS AMENDED. AMENDMENT #1 rewrites this bill to require, by December 1, 2023, and every eight years thereafter, administrative agencies to submit a report of their effective rules to the chairs of the government operations committees of the house of representatives and senate containing: (1) A brief description of the agency's operations that the rules affect; (2) Each rule's administrative history; and (3) A determination of if each rule should be amended, repealed, reviewed further, and current with legal and any other standards that affect the rule. This amendment requires that a state agency or department to which an administrative agency is attached certify the agency's rule report. In the event that an agency or department makes a false statement in the report, this bill authorizes the government operations committees of the senate and the house of representatives meeting jointly or separately to vote to request the general assembly repeal the rule, or suspend any or all of the agency's or department's rulemaking authority. AMENDMENT #2 specifies, in regard to false statements as discussed above in House Amendment #1, that in order for action to be taken the making of the false statement must have been intentional. ON APRIL 14, 2021, THE SENATE SUBSTITUTED HOUSE BILL 566 FOR SENATE BILL 1087, ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1, AND PASSED HOUSE BILL 566, AS AMENDED. AMENDMENT #1 makes this bill applicable to "a department" instead of "an agency" with rules promulgated and published on the secretary of state's website and adds that it is also applicable to a department with an administratively attached agency that has rules so promulgated and published. In regard to the determinations to be made, this amendment removes the provision for determining whether a rule "should be current with state and federal law, court rulings, and any other standards that affect the rule" and instead provides that there will be a determination of whether a rule adheres to such law and standards. This amendment also provides for a determination of whether a rule should continue in effect without amendment.