BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2466
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Date of Hearing: April 20, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS, PROFESSIONS AND CONSUMER
PROTECTION
Mary Hayashi, Chair
AB 2466 (Smyth) - As Introduced: February 19, 2010
SUBJECT : Regulations: legislative validation: effective date.
SUMMARY : Delays a regulation's effective date from 30 to 90
days after the filing date with the Secretary of State (SOS),
and requires the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) to submit a
copy of the regulation to the Legislature for review.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Delays the effective date that a regulation or an order of
repeal become effectives to the 90th day of filing with SOS,
unless otherwise specified.
2)Requires OAL to submit a copy of any regulation filed with SOS
to both houses of the Legislature.
3)Requires the Legislature to refer copies of the regulations
filed with SOS to an appropriate policy committee to do the
following:
a) Review for consistency with legislative intent regarding
the statute authorizing the specific regulation; and,
b) Recommend whether the regulation should be statutorily
repealed.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), setting
forth the requirements for the adoption, publication, review,
and implementation of regulations by state agencies.
2)Requires a regulation to become effective 30 days after the
filing date with SOS.
3)Establishes OAL for the orderly review of adopted regulations
and requires OAL to review all regulations adopted, amended or
repealed, for necessity, authority, clarity, consistency,
reference, and non-duplication.
AB 2466
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FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
Purpose of this bill . According to the author's office,
"California delegates much of its lawmaking authority to
unelected administrative bodies that promulgate regulations
without regard for the broader impact of those regulations on
the state and the economy. Complaints about the regulatory
process have reached a fever pitch, from both constituents and
lawmakers. Constituents feel that the people they elected to
represent them are not the ones making the decisions that impact
them on a daily basis. Legislators are frustrated that the
regulations are approved that run counter to the intent of the
Legislature, with little opportunity for legislative input.
"Among the regulations that have recently come under fire are
the California Air Resources Board's (CARB's) Scoping Plan for
implementing AB 32 (Nunez), Chapter 488, Statutes of 2005, the
State Water Resources Control Board's potential ban on
once-through cooling, and CARB's diesel regulations. While some
delegation is necessary, the regulatory process needs to provide
the Legislature with more opportunity for input, and the ability
to take immediate action against problematic regulations."
Background . 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. Exisiting law already 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 (Register). This bill would require OAL to
forward 600-800 regulations it annually adopts, despite being
published in the Register.
This bill requires policy committees to review each regulation
adopted and recommend whether it be repealed. Regulations
merely provide implementation of laws duly enacted by the
Legislature. The author and committee may wish to consider
whether it is necessary and appropriate to pass laws affecting
the internal deliberation of the legislative branch of
government.
AB 2466
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An overarching consideration regarding this bill is its
prohibition against any regulation that would place an undue
burden on California business on an annual basis and would
result in a significant loss of jobs. This strict prohibition
fails to recognize that the APA currently requires an evaluation
of the negative impact a proposed regulation would have on
businesses and reasonable alternatives that would eliminate
undue burdens.
Support . According to the California Growers Association,
"California is suffering record unemployment and state budget
deficits. Returning the state to economic health and vitality
should be our highest priority. AB 2466 requires OAL to submit
to the Legislature any regulation that it submits to SOS. This
bill requires the Legislature to refer each regulation to a
policy committee for a consistency review and recommendation as
to whether the regulation should be repealed by statute. This
bill will help improve the regulatory climate in California by
ensuring that regulations achieve stated objectives and are
consistent with other requirements."
Related Legislation . AB 2529 (Fuentes) of 2010, revises a
regulation's effective date from 30 to 60 days after the filing
date with the SOS. This bill is pending in the Assembly
Business, Professions and Consumer Protection Committee.
AB 2652 (Niello) of 2010, requires a standing committee with
jurisdiction over a state agency that proposes a regulation
costing with costs exceeding $10 million, to hold an
informational hearing regarding the proposed regulation. This
bill is pending in the Assembly Rules Committee.
Previous Legislation . AB 3511 (Jones), Chapter 1306, Statutes
of 2002, requires state agencies proposing to adopt or amend any
administrative regulation to assess the potential for adverse
economic impact on California business enterprises and
individuals, and to avoid the imposition of unnecessary or
unreasonable regulations or reporting, recordkeeping, or
compliance requirements.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
AB 2466
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California Growers Association
National Federation of Independent Business
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Joanna Gin / B.,P. & C.P. / (916)
319-3301