Legislative Changes to Virginia Administrative Rulemaking

The year 1983 was an active one for administrative law reform in Virginia. The Governor's Regulatory Reform Advisory Board completed its first full year of studying the state administrative process in Virginia, developing proposals for its improvement and drafting enabling legislation. The Board received a wide variety of suggestions from state employees, businesses, and the public at large in open hearings and through private correspondence. The result was the Board's first annual report, containing a series of proposed legislative reforms.

The common thread of these reforms was an increased public involvement in bureaucratic decision-making creating broadly applicable regulations with the force of law. These reforms were enacted in 1984 by the General Assembly in amendments to the Virginia Administrative Process Act (VAPA) and the Virginia Register Act (VRA).