BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 870
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 870 (Padilla)
As Amended July 12, 2011
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :39-0
NATURAL RESOURCES 9-0 UTILITIES & COMMERCE
13-0
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|Ayes:|Chesbro, Knight, |Ayes:|Bradford, Fletcher, |
| |Brownley, Dickinson, | |Buchanan, Fong, Fuentes, |
| |Grove, Halderman, Hill, | |Furutani, Beth Gaines, |
| |Monning, Skinner | |Roger Hernández, Huffman, |
| | | |Knight, Nestande, |
| | | |Skinner, Valadao |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
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|Ayes:|Fuentes, Harkey, | | |
| |Blumenfield, Bradford, | | |
| |Charles Calderon, Campos, | | |
| |Davis, Donnelly, Gatto, | | |
| |Hall, Hill, Lara, | | |
| |Mitchell, Nielsen, Norby, | | |
| |Solorio, Wagner | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Requires the Chair of the California Energy Commission
(CEC) to annually appear before the appropriate policy
committees of the Senate and the Assembly to report on the CEC's
activities.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes the CEC, provides for appointment of the Chair and
four other commissioners by the Governor, subject to Senate
confirmation, and requires the Chair to direct the adviser,
the executive director, and other staff in the performance of
SB 870
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their duties in conformance with the policies and guidelines
established by the CEC.
2)Requires the President of the Public Utilities Commission
(PUC) to annually appear before the appropriate policy
committees of the Senate and Assembly to report on two
specified annual reports required by statute.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, minor, absorbable annual costs to the CEC.
COMMENTS : In 2003, AB 1735 (Utilities and Commerce Committee),
Chapter 452, Statutes of 2003, enacted a requirement for the
President of the PUC to annually appear before the "appropriate
policy committees" to report on two specific items - the PUC's
annual workplan and the "SB 960 report" on resolution of cases
and commissioner attendance at hearings. This bill applies a
similar appearance requirement to the Chair of the CEC, though
the scope of the report is broader, applying to "the activities
of the commission." According to the author, this bill is "part
of a multi-pronged effort to improve communication between the
CEC and the Legislature in an attempt to focus and revitalize
its programs and priorities."
Notwithstanding the stated intent to improve communication, the
scope and purpose of this bill appear vague, and its necessity
unclear. There are a couple differences between the CEC and PUC
that may be relevant to this bill. First, the CEC already has
annual general policy reporting obligations to the Legislature
and Governor via the Integrated Energy Policy Report. Second,
the CEC is three blocks, rather than 90 miles, from the Capitol,
making in-person communication easier.
Last year, Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed SB 1467 (Padilla),
which contained a similar provision to this bill. In his veto
message, the Governor stated:
In addition to making several non-substantive
changes to the Public Utilities Code and the Public
Resources Code, this bill requires the Chairperson
of the State Energy Resources Conservation and
Development Commission (Commission) to appear
annually before the Senate Committee on Energy,
Utilities and Communications and the Assembly
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Committee on Utilities and Commerce to report on
the activities of the Commission.
This bill is unnecessary. During my
Administration, the Chairperson of the Commission
has always been accessible to the Legislature and,
in fact, has appeared on several occasions this
year before both committees to report on Energy
Commission activities.
If the Legislature would like to invite the
Chairperson to appear before their committees, they
simply need to call. In this bill's absence, I am
ordering DGS to check all phone lines between the
Legislature and the Chairperson's office to make
sure they are in good working order.
Analysis Prepared by : Lawrence Lingbloom / NAT. RES. / (916)
319-2092
FN: 0002140