BILL NUMBER: SB 688	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senator Wright

                        FEBRUARY 18, 2011

   An act to amend Sections 11343.4 and 11346.3 of the Government
Code, relating to regulations.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 688, as introduced, Wright. Regulations: legislative approval.
   Existing law, the Administrative Procedure Act, governs the
procedure for the adoption, amendment, or repeal of regulations by
state agencies and for the review of those regulatory actions by the
Office of Administrative Law. Existing law requires the agency to
assess the potential for adverse economic impact on California
business enterprises and individuals, as specified. Existing law
provides that a regulation shall become effective 30 days after the
date it is filed with the Secretary of State, as specified.
   This bill would also require an agency to produce, as part of the
required impact assessment, a detailed estimate of the total actual
costs of compliance for affected businesses and individuals. This
bill would require the agency to notify specified committees of the
Legislature if the estimated total costs of compliance exceed an
unspecified amount, as specified.
   This bill would require that a regulation that has an estimated
total cost of compliance in excess of an unspecified amount not take
effect until January 1, next, one year following the date that the
regulation is filed with the Secretary of State.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 11343.4 of the Government Code is amended to
read:
   11343.4.   A   (a)    
Except as provided in subdivision (b), a  regulation or an order
of repeal required to be filed with the Secretary of State shall
become effective on the 30th day after the date of filing unless:

   (a) 
    (1)  Otherwise specifically provided by the statute
pursuant to which the regulation or order of repeal was adopted, in
which event it becomes effective on the day prescribed by the
statute. 
   (b) 
    (2)  A later date is prescribed by the state agency in a
written instrument filed with, or as part of, the regulation or
order of repeal. 
   (c) 
    (3)  The agency makes a written request to the office
demonstrating good cause for an earlier effective date, in which case
the office may prescribe an earlier date. 
   (b) A regulation that has an individual cost impact in excess of
____ dollars ($____), as determined by the assessment conducted
pursuant to Section 11346.3, shall not take effect until January 1,
next, one year following the date that the regulation is filed with
the Secretary of State. 
  SEC. 2.  Section 11346.3 of the Government Code is amended to read:

   11346.3.  (a) State agencies proposing to adopt, amend, or repeal
any administrative regulation shall assess the potential for adverse
economic impact on California business enterprises and individuals,
avoiding the imposition of unnecessary or unreasonable regulations or
reporting, recordkeeping, or compliance requirements. For purposes
of this subdivision, assessing the potential for adverse economic
impact shall require agencies, when proposing to adopt, amend, or
repeal a regulation, to adhere to the following requirements, to the
extent that these requirements do not conflict with other state or
federal laws:
   (1) The proposed adoption, amendment, or repeal of a regulation
shall be based on adequate information concerning the need for, and
consequences of, proposed governmental action.
   (2) The state agency, prior to submitting a proposal to adopt,
amend, or repeal a regulation to the office, shall 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. For purposes of evaluating the
impact on the ability of California businesses to compete with
businesses in other states, an agency shall consider, but not be
limited to, information supplied by interested parties.
   It is not the intent of this section to impose additional criteria
on agencies, above that which exists in current law, in assessing
adverse economic impact on California business enterprises, but only
to assure that the assessment is made early in the process of
initiation and development of a proposed adoption, amendment, or
repeal of a regulation.
   (b) (1) All state agencies proposing to adopt, amend, or repeal
any administrative regulations shall assess whether and to what
extent it will affect the following:
   (A) The creation or elimination of jobs within the State of
California.
   (B) The creation of new businesses or the elimination of existing
businesses within the State of California.
   (C) The expansion of businesses currently doing business within
the State of California. 
   (2) (A) All state agencies proposing to adopt, amend, or repeal
any administrative regulations shall also prepare, as part of the
assessment required by this section, a detailed estimate of the total
actual costs of compliance for affected businesses and individuals.
The cost impacts shall, at a minimum, estimate costs of individual
compliance as well as the aggregate statewide cost of compliance.
 
   (B) The agency shall notify the fiscal committee in each house of
the Legislature and the appropriate policy committee in each house of
the Legislature if the estimated actual costs of compliance for
affected businesses or individuals, at the individual level, exceeds
____ dollars ($____). This notification is intended to provide the
Legislature sufficient time, to the extent the Legislature may
disapprove of the regulation, to enact a statute that restricts the
statutory authority of the agency to enact the regulation. 

   (2) 
    (3)  This subdivision does not apply to the University
of California, the Hastings College of the Law, or the Fair Political
Practices Commission. 
   (3) 
    (4)  Information required from state agencies for the
purpose of completing the assessment may come from existing state
publications.
   (c) No administrative regulation adopted on or after January 1,
1993, that requires a report shall apply to businesses, unless the
state agency adopting the regulation makes a finding that it is
necessary for the health, safety, or welfare of the people of the
state that the regulation apply to businesses.