On February 4, 2008, the Governor's Office received an
appeal from Mr. James L. Brummett relating to the Washington
Lottery Commission's denial of a petition to repeal or amend
RCW 67.70.040. The Governor's Office denied the Petition on
March 10, 2008.
DATE: March 11, 2008
Richard E. Mitchell
General Counsel to the Governor
March 10, 2008
James L. Brummett
P.O. Box 73442
Puyallup, WA 98373
Re: Administrative Rule Appeal - Alleged Lottery Involvement
in "Illegal Hype"
Dear Mr. Brummett:
This letter is in response to your petition for rulemaking,
which was initially filed with the Washington Lottery
Commission (Commission) on November 29, 2007. The Commission
considered your petition on January 17, 2008, and issued its
written denial on January 22, 2008. On February 4, 2008, you
appealed that denial to the Governor's Office under RCW 34.05.330. After consideration of your appeal petition,
inclusive of your declaration and attachments and the
Commission's denial, I am writing to inform you that the
Governor lacks jurisdiction to either grant or deny your
petition.
Under the Administrative Procedures Act, the Governor lacks
jurisdiction to consider petitions where the underlying agency
has not issued a denial, where the petitioner fails to timely
petition within thirty (30) days of the agency denial, or
where the petitioner is petitioning an agency's denial to
adopt a new rule. RCW 34.05.330.
Your petition does not cite a Commission rule that you seek to
amend or repeal. Instead, it states that "rule making is
necessary to follow the legislative intent..." and, for each of
your six points of contention, that "RULE MAKING ADOPTION" is
either needed or required. The Commission denied your appeal,
noting that your petition is about the "Commission adopt[ing]
rules", and "add[ing] conditions" to statutory requirements
(which can also be understood as adopting a new rule) on the
display of odds.
As a result, your petition must be dismissed for lack of
jurisdiction. Notwithstanding this, the Governor appreciates
your expression of concern and has noted the Commission's
direction to its staff to address how odds of winning are
presented to the public and how certain lottery words are
defined.
Sincerely,
Richard E. Mitchell
General Counsel
Reviser's note: The typographical error in the above section occurred in the copy filed by the agency and appears in the Register pursuant to the requirements of RCW 34.08.040.
Reviser's note: The brackets and enclosed material in the text of the above section occurred in the copy filed by the agency and appear in the Register pursuant to the requirements of RCW 34.08.040.