Planned difficulties – Newspaper Kommersant No. 226 (7427) dated 12/06/2022

The State Duma, as of the end of November, had not considered almost 30% of the top-priority bills that were in the plan for the current session. In the Duma committees, the “hanging” of projects is explained by new circumstances, protracted coordination with departments and “reflections of deputies.” Meanwhile, the implementation of the legislative program will be one of the key performance indicators of the committees, which the deputies intend to apply in the next session.

The State Duma has published a report on the implementation of its legislative program for the autumn session. It is clarified that this is an exemplary program consisting of projects subject to priority consideration. According to this document, out of about 250 bills put on the plan for September-November, more than 70 were not considered, Kommersant calculated.

Consideration of these projects was either postponed “to a later date” or “consultations and approvals are being carried out” on them. The leaders in terms of the number of “hanging” projects are the committees for the financial market (21), for transport (13), for state construction (nine, one of the busiest committees) and for security and anti-corruption (six).

Thus, the Finance Committee is awaiting a second reading of a draft proposal to apply economic sanctions not only to individual foreign companies and citizens, but also to legal entities that they control by more than 25% (adopted in the first reading in October 2020, the second was expected in October 2022). The head of the committee, Anatoly Aksakov (Fair Russia – For Truth), told Kommersant that the delay in consideration is often associated with coordination with various departments and the government.

The draft on the road safety audit, adopted in the first reading in January 2018, “hung” in the Transport Committee. In the Duma’s plan, it stood for October. Also, the draft law on the organization of transportation of passengers and luggage by passenger taxis, adopted in the first reading in July, did not reach the second reading. Deputy Chairman of the Committee Rafael Mardanshin (United Russia) explained the delay in the adoption of initiatives as follows: “It happens that some circumstances change and it becomes necessary to finalize the project.”

The Committee on Legislation is delaying the consideration of a draft on clarifying the term for serving a sentence, after which it is possible to transfer from a correctional colony of strict regime to a colony-settlement for certain categories of convicts. In the first reading it was adopted in June, in September it was supposed to be the second. The Kommersant committee explained that the deputies are still thinking about some wording. Also, on time (in September), the draft on garage associations submitted by Senator Andrei Turchak and the head of the committee Pavel Krasheninnikov (both United Russia) was not considered in the second reading. The latter explained to Kommersant that “there is a project on garages and there is a project on cottages” and the committees on legislation and construction created a joint working group in order to “reach a common decision and prescribe universal norms in both laws, since the problems are common, like roads, pipes, etc.”

Since March 2021, the Security Committee has been idly drafting, according to which officials may not be held liable for violations of anti-corruption prohibitions committed due to circumstances beyond their control. Another draft not considered in this session – on expanding the access of the prosecutor’s office to the personal data of Russians – was adopted in the first reading in March. Kommersant’s source in the committee explained that, as a rule, “everything hangs in the agreements between departments.”

Most of the “overdue” bills (50) were introduced by the government, which is traditionally the most active subject of legislative initiative. In this regard, Kommersant’s government office reminded that in 2022 Russia “faced unprecedented external pressure from unfriendly countries” and the current situation “requires prompt decisions to protect the economy, support businesses and citizens.” “The joint work of the government and the State Duma in the field of legislative activity is carried out on the basis of these priorities. Taking into account the priority tasks, plans for the preparation and adoption of laws are also being adjusted, ”the office explained.

The implementation of the legislative program will be one of the key performance indicators (KPI) of the Duma committees, Oleg Morozov (United Russia), the head of the control committee, confirmed to Kommersant. As a reminder, Vyacheslav Volodin, speaker of the Duma, suggested introducing KPIs for committees at the beginning of the year. However, the deputies have not yet developed them.

As Mr. Morozov explained, during this session the work of the committees is evaluated in a “test mode”. “We connected science, which gave us additional suggestions on evaluation criteria and approaches when it would be possible to compare the work of committees with different functions, and not just by legislative portfolio. We should not chase after formal indicators,” he told Kommersant. At the end of the year, the deputies will discuss the “model” of the KPI system and launch it at the next session, the head of the committee added.

The Duma’s plan is specifically called “exemplary”, which allows for the non-fulfillment of certain points, notes political scientist Pavel Sklyanchuk. According to him, it is fair to evaluate the effectiveness of committees, on the contrary, by the ability to work out unscheduled initiatives, and those bills are usually put on the calendar for reinsurance, for which there will be no serious consequences if they are not adopted on time.

Maria Makutina, Ksenia Veretennikova