BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1969
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 24, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS, PROFESSIONS AND CONSUMER
PROTECTION
Mary Hayashi, Chair
AB 1969 (Beth Gaines) - As Amended: April 16, 2012
SUBJECT : Regulations: filing.
SUMMARY : Establishes a two-year moratorium on regulations,
unless otherwise exempted. Specifically, this bill :
1)Prohibits the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) from
transmitting any regulations to the Secretary of State (SOS)
for filing that it receives between January 1, 2013, and
January 1, 2015 until after January 1, 2015.
2)Exempts regulations proposed by a public safety agency or
department, or a public health agency or department, including
the California Health and Human Services Agency.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes the requirements for the adoption, publication,
review, and implementation of regulations by state agencies,
and for review of those regulatory actions by the OAL under
the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).
2)Requires OAL to transmit a copy of a regulation to the SOS for
filing if OAL approves the regulation or fails to act on it
within 30 days.
3)Provides that a regulation or an order of repeal of a
regulation becomes effective on the 30th day after it is filed
with the SOS, unless prescribed conditions occur.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
Purpose of this bill . According to the author, "This bill will
not allow for regulations to be sent from the OAL to the SOS
from January 1, 2013 to January 1, 2015. All agencies dealing
with public health and public safety are exempt from this
restriction. These are exempted due to the yearly regulations
AB 1969
Page 2
they must update.
"Businesses are seeking stability so they can focus their time
and resources to grow their business and hire more people. By
being allowed to do so they can pull California out of the
recession that we are currently facing."
Background . 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 with a 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 which 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. Regulations take effect 30 days
after being filed by the OAL with the SOS.
More specifically, the APA requires state agencies proposing to
adopt, amend, or repeal any administrative regulation to assess
the potential for adverse economic impact on California business
enterprises and individuals, and avoid imposing unnecessary or
unreasonable regulations. Agencies are required to consider the
proposal's impact on business, with consideration of industries
affected including the ability of California businesses to
compete with businesses in other states. Additionally, agencies
are required to assess whether and to what extent the proposed
regulation change will affect the creation or elimination of
jobs, the creation of new businesses or the elimination of
existing businesses, and the expansion of businesses currently
doing business within California.
Policy considerations . This bill establishes a two-year
moratorium on new regulations. State agencies are tasked with
adopting appropriate regulations based on the statutory
decisions of the Legislature. Adding a mandatory two-year
moratorium to proposed regulations may have the unintended
result of leaving the original statute unadministered.
Support . The sponsor of this bill, Small Business Revolution,
writes in support, "There are 200 state agencies creating
AB 1969
Page 3
600-800 regulation packages on average each year. Most of these
regulation packages are hundreds of pages long. These
regulations often add additional burdens to small business,
local agencies, and school districts. With unemployment in
California still at 10.9% as of January 2012, businesses need to
begin to work with the regulations we currently have instead of
weighing them down with more restrictions and paperwork year
after year. In addition, local agencies struggling with their
own budget constraints, often struggle to keep up with
regulations mandated by the state. These additional
requirements put more fiscal pressure on public safety, public
health and the efficient use of taxpayer dollars."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Small Business Revolution (sponsor)
Calasian Chamber of Commerce
California Independent Oil Marketers Association
Disabled Veterans Business Enterprise Alliance
Indio Chamber of Commerce & Visitor Center
Slavic American Chamber of Commerce
Small Business Action Committee
Small Business Economic Impact Alliance
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Rebecca May / B.,P. & C.P. / (916)
319-3301