OLYMPIA Washington lawmakers on Thursday took a first step toward reining-in government regulators.

The Senate narrowly approved a compromise bill to require state agencies to give greater justification for writing any new rules, follow explicit criteria, and be more aware of potential impacts.

The vote on HB2510 was 26-22 just one vote more than the majority needed.

Sen. Ray Moore, D-Seattle, chairman of the Senate Labor & Commerce Committee that worked on the bill, chose it as his swansong. Moments after shepherding it through, he announced he will not seek re-election. The 82-year-old senator has been in hot water over spending more time in Hawaii than in his home district.

The House approved the bill an hour later, 62-34, and sent it to Gov. Mike Lowry, who has been critical of some portions of the compromise version.

The bill strikes a balance between the broader, stronger Senate version and a narrower House plan.

The legislation is based loosely on the work of the 22-member Governor's Task Force on Regulatory Reform. The panel, which plans to continue meeting this year, includes regulators, labor and business, environmentalists and legislators.

Critics, including minority Republicans and business

groups, said the bill doesn't deserve the name ''regulatory reform'' and is a backward step in some areas.

''It isn't worth spit,'' said Carolyn Logue, head of the state affiliate of the National Federation of Independent Business.

''I've seen this as the little people versus the bureaucrats, and the bureaucrats won,'' sighed Sen. Ann Anderson, R-Acme, the Senate Republicans' delegate to the task force. ''We haven't done an

ything to really change the agencies' way of doing things. It's status quo, and it has the potential of making things worse.''