BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2466
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Date of Hearing: May 5, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 2466 (Smyth) - As Amended: April 28, 2010
Policy Committee: Business and
Professions Vote: 9 - 1
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill requires the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) submit
all regulations packages to the Legislature and require that the
appropriate legislative policy committees review those
regulations. Specifically, this bill:
1)Changes the effective date of regulations from 30 days to 90
days.
2)Requires the OAL submit a copy of any regulation submitted to
the Secretary of State to each house of the Legislature.
3)Requires the Legislature to refer the regulations to the
appropriate policy committee in each house for review.
4)Requires the policy committee to review the regulation for
consistency with the intent of the Legislature in regard to
the statute that authorizes the particular regulation.
5)Requires the committee to offer recommendations as to whether
or not the regulation should be repealed by statute.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Given the 600 to 800 regulations packages per year and the
fact that many of them exceed several hundred pages, it is
likely that workload requirements for the policy committees
would increase significantly. In addition, it is likely that
the workload for the Legislative Analyst's Office, Legislative
Counsel, and the Chief Clerk's Office would also increase
significantly.
AB 2466
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2)The Legislature currently spends approximately $30 million per
year to staff policy committees in both the Senate and the
Assembly. If this legislation caused a 25% increase in
workload it would require a $7.5 million (GF) increase or
redirection from other areas of the Legislature's budget.
The governor's 2010-11 proposed budget includes over $3
million and 22 personnel, including 14 attorneys, for OAL to
review all proposed state regulations.
3)Unknown, but likely significant costs for the OAL if the
90-day delay in regulations causes more departments to use the
emergency regulations process.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . 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. Constituents feel that the people they
elected to represent them are not the ones making the
decisions that impact them on a daily basis." The author
further contends that legislators are frustrated that
regulations are approved that run counter to the intent of the
Legislature, with little opportunity for legislative input.
This bill would delay the effective date of regulations from
30 to 90 days and would require policy committees to review
each regulation adopted and recommend whether it be repealed.
Presumably, this would provide the Legislature with more input
into the regulatory process.
2)Funding for the State Legislature . In 1990, California voters
passed Proposition 140 which imposed term limits for
legislators and established a funding formula for the
Legislature's budget. Under that formula, funding for the
Legislature was reduced by 38% and expenditures were limited
to $950,000 per member or 80% of the amount of money expended
for the prior fiscal year, whichever is less. For each
subsequent fiscal year, the funding level is adjusted by an
established formula. Therefore, the Legislature operates
within a capped funding system and any additional workload
imposed on the Legislature must be absorbed within those
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resources.
3)Related Legislation . AB 2529 (Fuentes) of 2010, revises a
regulation's effective date from 30 to 60 days after the
filing date with the Secretary of State. This bill is
currently pending in this committee.
AB 2652 (Niello), 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.
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.
Analysis Prepared by : Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916)
319-2081