BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENERGY, UTILITIES AND COMMUNICATIONS
Senator Ben Hueso, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 2902 Hearing Date: 6/27/2016
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|Author: |Committee on Utilities and Commerce |
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|Version: |3/3/2016 As Introduced |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Nidia Bautista |
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SUBJECT: Public Utilities Commission: staff offices
DIGEST: This bill would require the offices of the California
Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) staff to be in Los Angeles,
Sacramento, or San Francisco, if the location meets the economic
and efficiency requirements of the state, as determined by the
Department of Finance.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Establishes the CPUC with five members appointed by the
Governor and confirmed by the Senate, empowers it to regulate
privately-owned public utilities in California, and specifies
that the Legislature may prescribe additional classes of
private corporations or other persons as public utilities.
(California Constitution Article XII and Public Utilities Code
§301)
2)Requires the CPUC office to be located in the City and County
of San Francisco and hold its sessions at least once in each
calendar month in the City and County of San Francisco.
(Public Utilities Code §306)
3)Authorizes the CPUC to meet at such other times and in such
other places as may be expedient and necessary for the proper
performance of its duties, and for that purpose may rent
quarters or offices. (Public Utilities Code §306)
AB 2902 (Committee on Utilities and Commerce) Page 2 of ?
This bill:
1)States that the staff of the CPUC are not subject to
requirements on the CPUC to have an office in the City and
County of San Francisco that is always open, except on legal
holidays and nonjudicial days, to hold session at least once
in each calendar month in the City and County of San
Francisco, to meet at other times and in such other places as
may be expedient and necessary for the proper performance of
its duties and may rent quarters or offices.
2)Requires the office of the staff of the CPUC to be in Los
Angeles, Sacramento, or San Francisco, if the location meets
the economic and efficiency requirements of the state, as
determined by the Department of Finance.
Background
The CPUC quasi-independent, but still accountable to the
Legislature. The CPUC was established by constitutional
amendment as part of the sweep of progressive reforms in the
early 1900s. Then-Governor Hiram Johnson pushed for reforms of
the Railroad Commission, which became today's CPUC, as a largely
independent agency that would guard against the corrupting
influence of railroads. In demonstration of its independence,
the CPUC was located in San Francisco, a distance from the state
capitol in Sacramento. Article XII of the California
Constitution grants the CPUC authority to regulate public
utilities "subject to control of the Legislature" and grants the
Legislature "plenary power" to confer authority and jurisdiction
upon the CPUC, with the intent that the CPUC be accountable to
the Legislature.
CPUC in 2016. The CPUC is governed by five full-time
commissioners, appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the
Senate, and staffed by approximately 1,000 individuals who,
together, regulate privately owned electric, natural gas,
telecommunications, water, railroad, rail transit, and passenger
transportation companies. CPUC staff includes four personal
advisors to each commissioner, except five to the president, as
well as the 42 judges of the Administrative Law Division -
attorneys, engineers and accountants who prepare the docket for
all CPUC official filings, including maintenance of the official
AB 2902 (Committee on Utilities and Commerce) Page 3 of ?
record of proceedings. The CPUC staff is mostly located in San
Francisco, with some staff located in offices in Los Angeles and
Sacramento.
Recent legislative budget action. The location of CPUC offices
and staff has been a topic of interest to some legislatures, as
demonstrated by this bill and others propose to require the
agency meet outside San Francisco or hire staff in others
offices. The issue of offices and staff is addressed in this
year's budgeting process. Both the Assembly and the Senate
approved adopting trailer bill language to require the CPUC to
report on its options to expand its operations and staff outside
of the San Francisco headquarters. As noted in the Senate
Budget Committee No. 2 CPUC budget analysis on May 17, 2016: the
purpose of this report is to explore options for leveraging
additional facilities in areas of the state, like Sacramento,
which would allow the CPUC to collaborate with other departments
and also allow staff more opportunities for growth in promotion
to other state departments."
CPUC also taking action. According to the CPUC, there have been
formal discussions with CPUC leadership, California Human
Resources, and all CPUC managers about the strengths and
weakness of the hiring process in light of an expected increase
in hiring. If the legislature approves the nearly 100 positions
currently in the governor's budget and the CPUC fills the many
positions that remained open last year because of funding
shortage, then the organization may need to fill 250 positions
in the next fiscal year - representing roughly a quarter of the
agency's staff. This will be a significant increase in
recruiting, hiring, and training. It will be a great
opportunity to shape the CPUC for years to come. In preparation
for this opportunity, the CPUC is actively recruiting in
Sacramento and Los Angeles, in addition to San Francisco. This
bill is consistent with existing and intended efforts to ensure
that CPUC staff are located where it makes fiscal, economic and
efficiency sense, including in locations outside San Francisco.
Technical amendments. The author and committee may wish to
clarify the language of this bill as follows:
(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to the staff of the
commission. The commission shall have offices outside San
Francisco, including of the staff of the commission shall be in
Los Angeles , and Sacramento . , or San Francisco, if the
AB 2902 (Committee on Utilities and Commerce) Page 4 of ?
Commission staff shall be assigned to the location that meets
the economic and efficiency requirements of the state, as
determined by the Department of Finance.
Prior/Related Legislation
SB 512 (Hill, 2016) among other provisions, removes the
requirement that the CPUC must meet at least one a month in the
City and County of San Francisco and requires a list of the
public meetings held outside San Francisco in the previous year,
and a schedule of meetings anticipated to be held outside San
Francisco during the coming year. The bill is in the Assembly
Committee on Utilities and Commerce waiting to be considered.
SB 48 (Hill, 2015) among other provisions, would have required
the CPUC to hold its sessions at least once in each calendar
month in the City and County of San Francisco or the City of
Sacramento and hold no less than six sessions each year in the
City of Sacramento. The bill was vetoed by the Governor.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.: Yes Local: No
SUPPORT:
None received
OPPOSITION:
None received
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the author, "this bill
clarifies that the statutory requirement for the office of the
commission to be located in San Francisco does not apply to the
commission staff. This would then allow commission staff to be
located where it meets the economic and efficiency requirements
of the state."
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