BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 1099
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 1099 (Wright)
As Amended May 17, 2012
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :33-0
BUSINESS & PROFESSIONS 9-0 APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Ayes:|Hayashi, Bill Berryhill, |Ayes:|Gatto, Harkey, |
| |Allen, Butler, Eng, | |Blumenfield, Bradford, |
| |Hagman, Hill, Ma, Smyth | |Charles Calderon, Campos, |
| | | |Davis, Donnelly, Fuentes, |
| | | |Hall, Hill, Cedillo, |
| | | |Mitchell, Nielsen, Norby, |
| | | |Solorio, Wagner |
| | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY : Revises the dates in which a regulation or order of
appeal becomes effective and requires the Office of
Administrative Law (OAL) to post certain information on its Web
site for a specified period of time. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires within 15 days of the OAL filing a state agency's
regulation with the Secretary of State (SOS), the regulation
be posted on the internet Web site in an easily identifiable
location and maintain the regulation of the Web site for at
least six months from the date the regulation is filed with
the SOS.
2)Requires the agency, within five days of posting, to send to
the OAL the Web site link of each regulation that the agency
posts on its Web site and provides that this measure does not
apply to a state agency that does not maintain a Web site.
3)Provides that unless the effective date is specifically
provided, a regulation or an order of repeal shall become
effective on a quarterly basis as follows:
a) January 1 if the regulation or order of repeal is filed
on September 1 to November 30, inclusive;
SB 1099
Page 2
b) April 1 if the regulation or order of repeal is filed on
December 1 to February 29, inclusive;
c) July 1 if the regulation or order of repeal is filed on
March 1 to May 31, inclusive; and,
d) October 1 if the regulation or order of repeal is filed
on June 1 to August 31, inclusive.
4)Requires the OAL to provide on its Web site, a list of, and a
link to the full text of each regulation filed with the SOS
which the effective date is pending.
5)Makes other conforming changes.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
1)Changing the effective date of regulations would likely
require OAL to renegotiate the contract with the publisher of
the California Code of Regulations (CCR). Under the current
contract, the publisher pays the state $400,000 for the
privilege of publishing the CCR. In prior years, the publisher
has paid $600,000. However, due to the current availability
of information on the internet, that amount was reduced.
Unlike California, many states pay publishers to publish their
regulatory codes. The complexity of these new requirements
combined with the declining number of subscriptions for hard
copies of the CCRs may cause the publisher to reduce their
payment or even require the state to pay for publishing the
CCRs.
2)Unknown, potentially significant workload costs associated
with requiring over 200 state agencies to post all regulations
packages on their websites within 15 days of submitting those
regulations to the Secretary of State. In 2011, there were
close to 5,000 regulatory packages submitted to OAL.
3)One-time costs for OAL, likely in the range of $50,000 for the
training and reprogramming costs associated with the
requirement that OAL post a link to the full text of every
SB 1099
Page 3
regulatory package.
COMMENTS : According to the author's office, "Every year,
businesses face a barrage of new regulations promulgated by
numerous agencies. Last year alone there were 467 new
regulations proposed by 103 different agencies. It is
difficult, if not impossible, for a small business with minimal
staff, to keep track of the regulatory process involving
multiple departments and agencies. This often has the effect of
guaranteeing that many businesses will be out of compliance with
some of the new rules. A small business owner may be complying
with a regulation passed by one agency and be entirely unaware
of another agency's new requirements."
The APA governs the adoption of regulations by state agencies
for purposes of ensuring that they are clear, necessary, legally
valid, and available to the public. In seeking adoption of a
proposed regulation, state agencies must comply with procedural
requirements that include publishing the proposed regulation
along with supporting statement of reasons; mailing and
publishing a notice of the proposed action 45 days before a
hearing or before the close of the public comment period; and,
submitting a final statement to OAL that summarizes and responds
to all objections, recommendations and proposed alternatives
that were raised during the public comment period. The OAL is
then required to approve or reject the proposed regulation
within 30 days.
OAL is responsible for reviewing administrative regulations
proposed by over 200 state agencies for compliance with the
standards set forth in the APA, for transmitting these
regulations to SOS and for publishing regulations in the
California Code of Regulations. Existing law requires OAL to
review all regulations for necessity and non-duplication, and
requires OAL to print a summary of all regulations filed with
SOS in the previous week in the California Regulatory Notice
Register.
Analysis Prepared by : Elissa Silva / B.,P. & C.P. / (916)
319-3301 FN:
0005008
SB 1099
Page 4