BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1659
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REPLACE - 06/02/2010 Technical change (Member name)
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1659 (Huber)
As Amended April 28, 2010
Majority vote
BUSINESS & PROFESSIONS 11-0
APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
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|Ayes:|Hayashi, Emmerson, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Conway, Ammiano, |
| |Conway, Eng, Hernandez, | | |
| |Hill, Ma, Nava, Niello, | |Bradford, Charles |
| |Ruskin, Smyth | |Calderon, Coto, |
| | | |Davis, Monning, Ruskin, |
| | | |Harkey, |
| | | |Miller, Nielsen, Norby, |
| | | |Skinner, |
| | | |Solorio, Torlakson, |
| | | |Torrico |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Recasts provisions of existing law governing the
periodic review (known as "Sunset Review") of boards, bureaus
and commissions under the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA).
Specifically, this bill :
1)Establishes a new Joint Sunset Review Committee (JSRC), as
specified.
2)Requires each eligible agency scheduled for repeal, on or
before December 1 prior to the year it is set to be repealed,
to submit to JSRC a complete agency report covering the entire
period since it was last reviewed, to include, but not be
limited to:
a) The purpose and necessity of the agency;
b) A description of the agency budget, priorities, and job
descriptions of employees of the agency;
c) All programs and projects under the direction of the
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agency;
d) Measures of the success or failures of the agency and
justifications for the metrics used to evaluate successes
and failures; and,
e) Any recommendations of the agency for changes or
reorganization in order to better fulfill its purpose.
3)Requires JSRC to take public testimony and evaluate the
eligible agency prior to the date the agency is scheduled to
be repealed.
4)Requires the elimination of any eligible agency unless the
Legislature enacts a law to extend, consolidate, or reorganize
the eligible agency.
5)Prohibits an eligible agency from extending in perpetuity
unless specifically exempted from the provisions of this bill.
6)Allows JSRC to recommend that the Legislature extend the
statutory sunset date for no more than one year to allow JSRC
more time to evaluate the eligible agency.
7)Specifies that JSRC shall be comprised of 10 members of the
Legislature as follows:
a) Five Senators appointed by the President pro Tempore of the
Senate, not more than three of whom shall be members of the
same political party; and,
b) Five Assembly Members appointed by the Speaker of the
Assembly, not more than three of whom shall be members of
the same political party.
8)Requires JSRC to meet no later than 30 days after the first
day of the regular session to choose a chairperson and to
establish the schedule for eligible agency review provided for
in the statutes governing the eligible agencies, for which a
date for repeal has been established by statute on or after
January 1, 2011.
9)States that this bill should not be construed to change the
existing jurisdiction of the budget or policy committees of
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the Legislature.
10)Defines "eligible agency" to mean any agency, authority,
board, bureau, commission, conservancy, council, department,
division, or office of state government, however denominated,
excluding an agency that is constitutionally created or an
agency related to postsecondary education.
11)States legislative intent.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes the Joint Committee on Boards, Commissions and
Consumer Protection (Joint Committee) to hold public hearings
at specified times and to evaluate whether a board or
regulatory program has demonstrated a need for its continued
existence.
2)States legislative intent that all existing and proposed state
boards are subject to review every four years to evaluate and
determine whether each has demonstrated a public need for its
continued existence, as specified.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Appropriations Committee,
annual costs in the range of $250,000 (General Fund) for the
Legislature due to the workload associated with reviewing the
boards and bureaus within the Department of Consumer Affairs.
COMMENTS : According to the author's office, "Legislators create
new boards, commissions, agencies and departments to solve a
problem and then does not maintain oversight of the newly
created bureaucracy to ensure it actually solved the problem it
was created to solve or determine whether the problem is worse.
This systemic problem can be fixed by conducting comprehensive,
regular reviews of state government to ensure taxpayer dollars
are being used wisely.
"As introduced, this bill would require that an agency be
automatically eliminated unless the Legislature votes to extend
consolidate, or reorganize the agency based on the
recommendation of the Joint Sunset Review committee. Prior to
the committee's recommendation, each agency scheduled for sunset
would be required to submit a report to the committee. Then the
committee would take public testimony and evaluate the agency
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prior to the date the agency is scheduled to be sunset.
"AB 1659 provides a bipartisan, common sense approach for the
Legislature to maintain oversight and review of the state's
bureaucracy and its performance."
This bill is consistent with provisions of existing law
governing the sunset review process for boards and bureaus under
DCA. Because the bill does not establish new sunset dates for
any state agencies, this bill is limited to the boards and
bureaus under DCA already scheduled for sunset review pursuant
to existing law.
In 1994, the Legislature established the Joint Committee and a
process for routinely reviewing the performance of the
semiautonomous boards. The Joint Committee begins its review
process by sending a board a questionnaire and a request for
information covering every aspect of the board's operation for a
specified period. Although Joint Committee staff and the board
meet to discuss the information and to seek input from consumer
groups, all the information supplied to the Joint Committee
comes from the board itself. The basic issue for the Joint
Committee to consider during its deliberations is whether the
board should continue to regulate the profession in question or
be terminated. The Joint Committee gives the board an
opportunity to respond to its recommendations before presenting
them to the Legislature. As a result of its review, the Joint
Committee might recommend that the Legislature terminate, or
"sunset," a board. The 1994 law provides only for the
elimination of a board, not for the actual deregulation of the
profession. Upon a board's sunset, the board then becomes a
bureau under DCA. The Joint Committee has not been staffed, nor
has conducted any hearings in the past few years.
AB 2130 (Huber), the companion measure to this bill, repeals the
Joint Committee and instead makes specified DCA boards subject
to review by JSRC under this bill. AB 2130 is double-jointed to
this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Rebecca May / B. & P. / (916) 319-3301
FN: 0004628
AB 1659
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