Source: http://pa.findacase.com/research/wfrmDocViewer.aspx/xq/fac.20121003_0003267.PA.htm/qx
Timestamp: 2019-04-24 12:10:08+00:00

Document:
Constance Naylor, May Susan Kimball, and Salahuddin Al-Sadiq (Petitioners) filed in this Court's original jurisdiction an amended class action petition for review in the nature of a complaint in equity, seeking injunctive, declaratory, and monetary relief against Respondent Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Welfare (the Department). In their amended class action petition for review, Petitioners aver that the Department unlawfully reduced the amount of certain of its monthly State Supplementary Payments (SSP) to severely disabled, blind, and elderly indigent Pennsylvania residents by failing to comply with statutorily required rule-making procedures set forth in what is commonly referred to as Commonwealth Documents Law,*fn1 the Regulatory Review Act,*fn2 and the Commonwealth Attorneys Act.*fn3 Before the Court are Petitioners' renewed application for summary relief and the Department's cross-application for summary relief.*fn4 We now deny Petitioners' application for summary relief and grant the Department's cross-application for summary relief.
As background, Petitioners aver that over 359,000 low-income Pennsylvanians receive a monthly federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payment of no more than $674 per month because they are unable to work due to disability, blindness, or age. Pennsylvanians who receive SSI and who are residing in an independent living arrangement also receive an additional state-funded SSP.
A."*fn5 55 Pa. Code § 299.37 (Section 299.37 of the Regulations).
On January 16, 2010, the Department published notice in the Pennsylvania Bulletin, announcing that it would be reducing the SSP amounts as a result of "state budget limitations" and citing the number of people who may be eligible to receive SSP. According to Petitioners, this was the first time since 2005 that the Department reduced SSP payment levels simply by publishing notice in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.*fn6 Following the Department's reduction in the SSP amounts through publication of notice, Petitioners initiated the litigation now before the Court.
In the renewed application for summary relief now before this Court, Petitioners argue that the Department's notice to reduce the SSP grant amounts is the equivalent of a regulation, and, as such, the Department was required to promulgate it pursuant to the Commonwealth Documents Law, the Regulatory Review Act, and the Commonwealth Attorneys Act, which the Department failed to do when it reduced the SSP amounts by simply publishing notice in the Pennsylvania Bulletin. Petitioners also argue that Section 299.37 of the Regulations does not authorize the Department to circumvent the requirements of the Commonwealth Documents Law, the Regulatory Review Act, and the Commonwealth Attorneys Act. In other words, Petitioners argue that a Commonwealth agency may not opt out of the statutory requirements to lawfully promulgate future regulations by issuing another regulation declaring itself exempt. Petitioners also contend that if the General Assembly wanted to give the Department the authority to promulgate new regulations or amend existing regulations without complying with the formal rulemaking statutes, it could have done so as it has done in the past.
The Department takes the position, therefore, that it is irrelevant whether the notice of a reduction in SSP payments is a statement of policy or binding norm, the latter of which results in it being considered a regulation,*fn8 because such an analysis ignores the fact that the notice was published as part of an established regulatory framework that authorizes the revision of SSP payment levels by notice. Moreover, the language of Section 299.37 is clear: "Revisions to the SSP payment levels will be published as a notice in the Pennsylvania Bulletin for codification in Appendix A." 55 Pa. Code § 299.37. Far from being an unpromulgated regulation separate and apart from Section 299.37, the Department contends that the notice was the vehicle authorized by the regulation for revising SSP payment levels. Thus, the Department is authorized to reduce the amount of SSP payments through notice published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin and without the need to go through the formal rule-making procedures referenced above. The Department continues that it was authorized to promulgate Section 299.37 under its governing statutory authority, and that this Court, therefore, should uphold the validity of Section 299.37 and its authorization to revise SSP payment levels by publishing notice in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
At the outset, we note that the Commonwealth Documents Law, the Regulatory Review Act, and the Commonwealth Attorneys Act establish a mandatory, formal rulemaking procedure that is, with rare exceptions, required for the promulgation of all regulations. See Germantown Cab Co. v. Philadelphia Parking Auth., 993 A.2d 933, 937 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2010), aff'd, ___ Pa. ___, 36 A.3d 105 (2012). Under the Commonwealth Documents Law,*fn9 an agency must give notice to the public of its proposed rulemaking and an opportunity for the public to comment. Section 201 of the Commonwealth Documents Law, 45 P.S. § 1201; Borough of Bedford v. Dept. of Envtl. Prot., 972 A.2d 53 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2009). Under the Regulatory Review Act, the agency must also submit its proposed regulation to IRRC for public comment, recommendation from IRRC, and, ultimately, IRRC's approval or denial of a final-form regulation.*fn10 Section 5 of the Regulatory Review Act, as amended, 71 P.S. § 745.5. The Commonwealth Attorneys Act requires the agency to submit all proposed regulations to the Attorney General and Governor's Office of General Counsel for review of the form and legality. 71 P.S. §§ 732-204(b), -301(10).

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