BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 19
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Date of Hearing: May 20, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
AB
19 (Chang) - As Amended May 6, 2015
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|Policy |Jobs, Economic Development, |Vote:|8 - 0 |
|Committee: |and the Economy | | |
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill requires the Governor's Office of Business and
Economic Development (GO-Biz), in consultation with the Office
of the Small Business Advocate, to establish a process for the
ongoing review of existing regulations adopted prior to January
AB 19
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1, 2016, primarily those affecting small businesses, to
determine whether the regulations could be less administratively
burdensome or costly to affected sectors. Sunsets the provisions
of the bill January 1, 2021. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires GO-Biz to establish a process and timeline for review
of regulations, including a process for public input.
Following a public comment period, requires GO-Biz to
determine whether the regulation could be implemented through
an alternative method or methods, and requires GO-Biz to
provide recommendations to the affected agency and post the
same information on its Internet Web site.
2)Requires GO-Biz to report to the Legislature and the Governor,
prior to January 1, 2021, a listing of all regulations
reviewed, the results of each review including the alternative
implementation method or methods the office proposed, and a
description of the actions taken by the responsible agency.
FISCAL EFFECT:
Ongoing annual General Fund administrative costs to GO-Biz of
approximately $214,000, through January 1, 2021, for two
positions to determine the scope of the review, develop and
produce materials for at least two annual public meetings,
review public input, compile and report data and post
information online.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. According to the author, this bill is an effort to
bring relief to the small business owners of California.
GO-Biz has already made efforts to aid small businesses with
the regulatory process. This legislation is intended to build
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on that effort.
2)Opposition. Several labor advocates, including the Teamsters,
oppose this bill stating concerns that the resources to
undertake a review of a majority of regulations adopted before
January 1, 2016, would be significant and that these resources
could be better spent elsewhere. Another issue of concern is
GO-Biz' ability to review highly technical regulation and
determine whether there is a workable alternative.
3)Related legislation.
a) AB 1286 (Mayes), pending in this committee, establishes
the California Regulatory Reform Council (Council) for the
purpose of analyzing the holistic impact of all levels of
state and local regulations on specific industries
operating within the state.
b) AB 2723 (Medina) of 2014 proposed a review of costs
associated with regulations on the small business be
considered when state agencies undertake their economic
impact assessment for major regulations. The Governor's
veto message of this bill is as follows:
This bill would require the economic analysis for
major regulations to include a separate assessment of
the impact on sole proprietorships and small
businesses. I signed legislation in 2011 to require a
comprehensive economic analysis of proposed major
regulations. The analysis must assess whether, and to
what extent, the proposed regulations will affect all
California jobs and businesses. Agencies must also
identify alternatives that would lessen any adverse
impact on small businesses. I am not convinced that
an additional layer of specificity based solely on the
legal structure of a business would add value to the
comprehensive economic analysis already required.
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c) SB 617 (Calderon), Chapter 496, Statutes of 2011,
revises the state Administrative Procedure Act to require
each state agency adopting a major regulation to prepare an
economic impact analysis, and requires state agencies to
implement ongoing monitoring of internal auditing and
financial controls and other best practices in financial
accounting.
Analysis Prepared by:Misty Feusahrens / APPR. / (916)
319-2081