BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                       



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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                  AB 2130|
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                                 THIRD READING


          Bill No:  AB 2130
          Author:   Huber (D), et al
          Amended:  8/18/10 in Senate
          Vote:     21

           
           SEN. BUS., PROF. & ECON. DEV. COMMITTEE  :  7-0, 6/28/10
          AYES:  Negrete McLeod, Aanestad, Calderon, Corbett, Correa,  
            Florez, Yee
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Wyland, Walters  

          SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE  :  Senate Rule 28.8

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  74-3, 6/3/10 - See last page for vote


           SUBJECT  :    Professions and vocations:  sunset review

           SOURCE  :     Author


           DIGEST  :    This bill abolishes the Joint Committee on  
          Boards, Commission, and Consumer Protection and would  
          instead make eligible agencies, as defined, subject to  
          review by the Joint Sunset Review Committee.  Initially  
          specifies five agencies which would be subject to review  
          and have a sunset date of December 2012.   Requires the  
          Joint Sunset Review Committee to report to the public and  
          the Legislature on whether an agency should be terminated,  
          or continued, or whether its functions should be revised or  
          consolidated with those of another agency, and include any  
          other recommendations as necessary to improve the  
          effectiveness and efficiency of the agency and any proposed  
                                                           CONTINUED





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          legislation to carry out its recommendations.

           Senate Floor Amendments  of 8/18/10 make technical changes  
          and corrections.

          NOTE:  This bill is a companion measure to AB 1659 (Huber).  
           The provisions of this bill will not become operative  
          unless AB 1659 is enacted and establishes the Joint Sunset  
          Review Committee.

           ANALYSIS  :    

          Existing law, the Business and Professions code:

          1.Establishes the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA)  
            within the State and Consumer Services Agency, and  
            provides that DCA is under the control of the Director of  
            DCA who is appointed by the Governor, subject to Senate  
            confirmation.

          2.Provides that the boards under DCA are made up of  
            appointees of the Governor and the Legislature who  
            perform, among their duties, licensing and regulatory  
            functions such as appointment of an executive officer,  
            setting educational and experience requirements for  
            licensing and regulatory activities, and taking  
            enforcement and disciplinary actions against licensees  
            for violations of law or their individual practice acts.   
            These boards are considered as separate and independent  
            from the control of DCA.

          3.Established in 1994, the Joint Legislative Sunset Review  
            committee, and in 2004 changed the name to the Joint  
            Committee on Boards, Commissions and Consumer Protection  
            (Joint Committee).

          4.Specifies that the Joint Committee shall consist of three  
            members appointed by the Senate Rules Committee and three  
            members appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly.  No  
            more than two of the three members appointed from the  
            Senate or the Assembly shall be form the same party.  The  
            Joint Rules committee shall appoint the chairperson of  
            the Joint Committee.  The Joint Committee is authorized  
            to act until January 1, 2012, at which time the  







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            committee's existence shall terminate.

          5.Provides that all boards under DCA that are scheduled to  
            become inoperative and repealed on a specified date or  
            established pursuant to initiative act, or certain  
            specified bureaus or other programs of DCA, are subject  
            to review by the Joint Committee.

          6.Provides that in the event that any board becomes  
            inoperative or is repealed (sunsets) that DCA shall  
            succeed to and is vested with all the duties, powers,  
            purposes, responsibilities of that board, and provides  
            that when the regulatory program is taken over by DCA,  
            that program shall be designated as a "bureau."

          7.Provides, as of January 1, 2004, all administrative or  
            regulatory boards, commissions, committees, councils,  
            associations, or other authorities who have appointed  
            membership, are subject to review by the Joint Committee.

          Existing law, the Government Code:

          1.Provides that the Legislature finds and declares that  
            California's multilevel, complex governmental structure  
            today contains more than 400 categories of administrative  
            or regulatory boards, commissions, committees, councils,  
            associations, and authorities and that these governmental  
            entities have been established without any method of  
            periodically reviewing their necessity, effectiveness or  
            utility and as a result the Legislature and residents of  
            California cannot be assured that these existing or  
            proposed governmental entities adequately protect the  
            public health, safety and welfare.

          2.Provides that it is the intent of the Legislature that  
            all existing state boards be subject to review every four  
            years to evaluate and determine whether each has  
            demonstrated a public need for its continued existence in  
            accordance with enumerated factors and standards.

          3.Requires the Joint Committee to review all state boards  
            every four years and to evaluate and make determinations  
            as specified.








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          This bill:

          1.Abolishes the current "Sunset Review" process and the  
            ability of the Joint Committee to review boards and  
            bureaus under DCA.  [It is intended that the review of  
            boards scheduled for sunset will now be the  
            responsibility of the Senate and Assembly Business and  
            Professions committees.  The same evaluative and review  
            process performed by the former Joint Committee will be  
            continued jointly by these committees as part of their  
            oversight function.]

          2.Repeals provisions which allow a board to become a bureau  
            under the DCA in the event that any board becomes  
            inoperative or is repealed (sunsets).  [This will require  
            the Legislature to take an affirmative action to decide  
            on the appropriate changes and continuation of the board  
            prior to its sunset date.]

          3.Abolishes the authority granted to the Joint Committee in  
            January of 2004, to review all existing state boards and  
            other entities every four years.

          4.Makes instead all "eligible agencies," as defined,  
            subject to review by the new Joint Sunset Review  
            Committee (JSRC) which would be established pursuant to  
            AB 1659.

          5.Specifies that the following four agencies would be  
            subject to review by the JSRC in its first year of  
            operation and would have sunset dates of January 1, 2013:

             A.    The State Race Track Leasing Commission.

             B.    The Capitol Area Committee.

             C.    The Continuing Care Advisory Committee.

             D.    The California Recreational Trails Committee.

          6.Provides that the JSRC shall make a report available to  
            the public and the Legislature or whether an agency  
            should be terminated, or continued, or whether its  
            functions should be revised or consolidated with those of  







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            another agency, and include any other recommendations as  
            necessary to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of  
            the agency.

          7.Provides that if the JSRC deems it advisable, the report  
            may include proposed bill to carry out its  
            recommendations.

          8.Specifies that the provisions of this bill will not  
            become operative unless AB 1659 is enacted and  
            establishes the JSRC.

           Background

          The "Sunrise" of Sunset Review in California  .   The concept  
          of sunset review law first began back in the 1970's.  There  
          are now about 35 states which have some sort of sunset  
          review law on the books.  Basically, the genesis behind all  
          sunset laws is to place a termination date on a particular  
          program or agency, and in the meantime, review it to  
          determine if it is still operating in an effective and  
          efficient manner, and whether it should continue.

          When one talks about sunset or sunrise laws, they are  
          usually referring to a review of regulatory licensing  
          agencies.  There are certainly other specific programs  
          which may be subject to sunset, but the idea of subjecting  
          an agency to a more formalized review process, before  
          allowing it to continue, or be established in the first  
          place, is unique to this type of law.

          California was sort of a "Johnny-come-lately" to this  
          process.  There had been prior attempts by the Legislature  
          to pass a sunset law, but in those instances the  
          legislation would have sunset both the board and the  
          licensing program of the particular profession.  The law  
          which was passed in 1994, only sunsets the board - not the  
          licensing of the occupation.  There are basically two  
          reasons for this, the first is obvious - in most instances  
          there is a continued need to license those professions  
          currently regulated by boards under DCA.  To automatically  
          terminate the licensing requirements would have provided no  
          benefit to the review of these boards under the sunset law.  
           The second reason, however, is more important.  Throughout  







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          1993 and 1994, both the Senate Business and Professions  
          Committee and the Assembly Consumer Protection Committee  
          began a review of some of the 32 regulatory boards under  
          the Department.  There was more concern with the boards'  
          operation and activities (or lack thereof) than whether  
          there was a need to continue the licensing of a particular  
          profession.  A number of problems with these boards were  
          identified and a report was issued by Senate Business and  
          Professions Committee Subcommittee on Efficiency and  
          Effectiveness in State Boards and Commissions titled,  
           Reforming and Restructuring California's Regulatory  
          Agencies  which detailed a number of changes and  
          recommendations regarding these boards and also strongly  
          recommended the establishment of a Joint Legislative Sunset  
          Review Committee to provide specific review criteria and  
          minimum standards of evaluation for legislative and state  
          agency use, and subject all licensing agencies and  
          regulatory programs of the Department to periodic review  
          and sunset.
           
           For all these reasons and more, both the Legislature and  
          the Administration believed the more immediate task at hand  
          was to review these consumer boards at regular intervals.   
          If it was determined the board should sunset, then there  
          would be adequate time to determine if the entire licensing  
          program should be eliminated as well.  (It should be noted  
          that the Hoover Commission and the LAO at that time both  
          recommended establishing a sunset review process for all  
          regulatory consumer boards.)

          In 1994, SB 2036 was signed into law which established the  
          Joint Legislative Sunset Review Committee.  The Joint  
          Committee reviewed all boards and other programs under the  
          Department for a period of 10 years on an ongoing basis,  
          until its final review in 2005.

           Brief Description of the Sunset Review Process  . The law,  
          which went into effect on January 1, 1995, set in place a  
          schedule for review of all of the 32 independent boards and  
          programs under DCA.  It allowed for an initial review of  
          all boards beginning in 1995 and ending in 1998.  A  
          re-review of these boards was required after four or more  
          years from the initial review, and began in 1999 and ended  
          in 2005.  All 32 boards and certain other programs and  







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          bureaus of DCA were reviewed and re-reviewed during  
          the10-year period.

          The sunset date for each board allowed enough time for the  
          board to be reviewed by the Joint Committee, and for  
          legislation to be passed to extend the sunset date of the  
          board and make appropriate changes.  The actual review  
          process for the Joint Committee began with sending boards a  
          detailed questionnaire and a request for information which  
          covered every aspect of the board's operation for four  
          years.  The boards were required to respond to this request  
          by September 1 of the year they were scheduled for review.

          During this time, staff of the Joint Committee, Senate  
          Business and Professions Committee, Assembly Consumer  
          Protection Committee, and the LAO worked together to  
          prepare an analysis and report on each board.  (Staff also  
          met with boards to review documents and information  
          provided, and seek input from various consumer groups, and  
          the Health and Budget committees of the Legislature.)  The  
          report provided a brief overview of the board's functions  
          and programs, identified issues or problem areas concerning  
          each board, and included preliminary recommendations for  
          members of the Joint Committee to consider.  This included  
          whether each board scheduled for review should be  
          terminated, continued, or reestablished, and whether its  
          programs or functions should be restructured or revised.

          The Joint Committee then conducted public hearings to  
          review the issues and preliminary recommendations.  The  
          boards were provided an opportunity to respond, along with  
          the regulated industry, consumer groups and the public.   
          DCA participated in these hearings as well.  After the  
          hearings, the Joint Committee provided DCA with copies of  
          all testimony and analyses prepared by staff.  DCA then had  
          60 days to provide its own recommendations to the Joint  
          Committee.  Once received, the Joint Committee then met to  
          review the recommendations of DCA and make final  
          recommendations to the Legislature.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  Yes    
          Local:  No

           ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT  :    According to the author's office,  







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          this bill serves as the implementation bill for the JSRC  
          created by her companion bill AB 1659 which creates the  
          JSRC and outlines its duties and responsibilities in  
          reviewing "eligible agencies," as defined in AB 1659.  As  
          indicated by the author's office, this bill seeks to  
          establish accountability and oversight for government  
          entities by requiring systematic review and evaluation of  
          state entities.  Under current law, as explained by the  
          author's office, 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, and to  
          also review all other 400 plus categories of administrative  
          or regulatory boards, commissions, committees, councils,  
          associations, and authorities.  Joint Committee members  
          have not been appointed to this committee since 2006, and  
          the Joint Committee never implemented their new authority  
          granted to it in 2004, to review all other types of  
          appointed governmental entities.

          The author's office further indicates that this bill would  
          abolish the Joint Committee and move the functions of the  
          Joint Committee as it relates to review of appointed  
          governmental entities to the JSRC.  The JSRC would not,  
          however, review those boards and bureaus under DCA.  As  
          earlier indicated, these agencies would continue to be  
          reviewed and evaluated by the Business and Professions  
          committees of the Senate and the Assembly.  However, if at  
          any time these committees no longer reviewed these  
          agencies, then the JSRC would have the authority to  
          continue such reviews.

          As stated by the author's office, "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."


           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  : 
          AYES:  Adams, Ammiano, Bass, Beall, Bill Berryhill,  
            Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield, Bradford, Brownley,  







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            Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter, Chesbro,  
            Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, DeVore,  
            Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes,  
            Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gilmore,  
            Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber,  
            Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal,  
            Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Nava, Nestande, Niello,  
            Nielsen, Norby, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Ruskin,  
            Salas, Saldana, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Swanson,  
            Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran, Villines, Yamada, John  
            A. Perez
          NOES:  Anderson, Arambula, Knight
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Tom Berryhill, Audra Strickland, Vacancy


          JJA:cm  8/19/10   Senate Floor Analyses 

                       SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  NONE RECEIVED

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