BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 2130
                                                                  Page  1

          ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
          AB 2130 (Huber) 
          As Amended  June 2, 2010
          Majority vote 

           BUSINESS & PROFESSIONS     11-0 APPROPRIATIONS      17-0        
           
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
          |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                   |
          |-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
          |     |                          |     |                          |
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
           SUMMARY  :  Makes specified boards subject to review by the new  
          Joint Sunset Review Committee (JSRC) created by the companion  
          measure AB 1659 (Huber).  Specifically,  this bill  : 

          1)Eliminates the Joint Committee on Boards, Commissions, and  
            Consumer Protection (Joint Committee) and replaces it with the  
            JSRC.

          2)Requires boards and bureaus within the Department of Consumer  
            Affairs (DCA) that already contain a sunset date to be  
            reviewed by the JSRC, rather than the Joint Committee.

          3)Double-joints this bill to AB 1659 (Huber).

           EXISTING LAW  :

          1)Establishes sunset dates on boards under DCA.

          2)Establishes the 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.

          3)States legislative intent that all existing and proposed state  
            boards are subject to review every four years to evaluate and  








                                                                  AB 2130
                                                                  Page  2

            determine whether each has demonstrated a public need for its  
            continued existence, as specified.

           FISCAL EFFECT :  According to the Assembly Appropriations  
          Committee, if nine boards and bureaus are scheduled to sunset  
          each year, workload associated with DCA writing and submitting a  
          sunset review report to the JSRC would be in the range of  
          $900,000 per year (various special funds).

           COMMENTS  :  According to the author's office, "AB 2130 serves as  
          the implementation bill for the JSRC created in AB 1659 (Huber)  
          by defining which government entities will be subject to the  
          JSRC's review.

          "AB 2130 seeks to establish accountability and oversight for  
          government entities by requiring a systematic review and  
          evaluation of state entities.  Under current law the Joint  
          Committee is granted the power to hold public hearings at  
          specified times and to evaluate whether a board or regulatory  
          program under DCA has demonstrated a need for its continued  
          existence. Committee members have not been appointed to this  
          committee since 2006 and the jurisdiction is limited to the  
          boards and commissions that fall under the Business and  
          Professions code. 

          "This bill would abolish the Joint Committee and move the  
          functions of [the Joint] Committee to the JSRC created by AB  
          1659.  Furthermore, AB 2130 defines which government entities  
          will be subject to the Committee established by AB 1659 and sets  
          the timetable for sunset pursuant to the policy set forth in AB  
          1659. 

          "The purpose of AB 1659 and AB 2130 is to establish a long term  
          process through which the state can conduct routine reviews of  
          entities and determine if they are still necessary.  It is not  
          the intention of AB 1659 or AB 2130 to prohibit standing  
          committees from conducting their own periodic reviews of boards  
          and commissions under their jurisdiction."

          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  








                                                                  AB 2130
                                                                  Page  3

          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.

          This bill is consistent with provisions of existing law  
          governing the sunset review process for boards and bureaus under  
          DCA.  

          AB 1659 (Huber), the companion measure to this bill, repeals the  
          Joint Committee and instead creates the JSRC.  All DCA boards  
          that contain a sunset date would be reviewed by the JSRC rather  
          than the Joint Committee.  AB 1659 is double-jointed to this  
          bill.  

           
          Analysis Prepared by  :    Rebecca May / B. & P. / (916) 319-3301 


                                                                FN: 0004762