BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  SB 870
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   August 17, 2011

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

                    SB 870 (Padilla) - As Amended:  July 12, 2011 

          Policy Committee:                             Natural 
          ResourcesVote:9-0
                       Utilities and Commerce                 13-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program: 
          No     Reimbursable:              No

           SUMMARY  

          This bill requires the chair of the California Energy Commission 
          (CEC) to appear annually before the appropriate policy 
          committees of the Senate and Assembly.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Minor, absorbable annual costs to CEC.  (Special fund.)

           COMMENTS  

          The author intends this bill to improve communication between 
          the Legislature and the CEC.  The author notes that existing 
          statute (Committee on Utilities and Commerce, Chapter 452, 
          Statutes of 2003) requires the president of the California 
          Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to report annually to the 
          Legislature.

          The CPUC generally exercises a greater level of independence 
          than most other state agencies, reflective of its creation in 
          the state constitution and the location of its headquarters in 
          San Francisco.  Whatever the impetus for requiring the CPUC 
          president to appear before the Legislature every year, it seems 
          doubtful there is a need to require the CEC chair to do so.  Any 
          committee wishing an appearance by the chair of the CEC could 
          simply request his or her presence before committee, and a 
          committee could obligate such an appearance by use of subpoena, 
          if necessary.  

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Jay Dickenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081 








                                                                  SB 870
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