Existing law authorizes various state entities to adopt, amend, or repeal regulations for various specified purposes. The Administrative Procedure Act requires the Office of Administrative Law and a state agency proposing to adopt, amend, or repeal a regulation to review the proposed changes for, among other things, consistency with existing state regulations.

This bill would, until January 1, 2019, require each state agency to, on or before January 1, 2018, review that agencys regulations, identify any regulations that are duplicative, overlapping, inconsistent, or out of date, to revise those identified regulations, as provided, and report to the Legislature and Governor, as specified.

Existing law authorizes various state entities to adopt, amend, or repeal regulations for various specified purposes. The Administrative Procedure Act requires the Office of Administrative Law and a state agency proposing to adopt, amend, or repeal a regulation to review the proposed changes for, among other things, consistency with existing state regulations.

This bill would, until January 1, 2019, require each state agency to, on or before January 1, 2018, and after a noticed public hearing, review and revise that agencys regulations to eliminate any inconsistencies, overlaps, or outdated provisions in the regulations, adopt the revisions as emergency regulations, review that agencys regulations, identify any regulations that are duplicative, overlapping, inconsistent, or out of date, to revise those identified regulations, as provided, and report to the Legislature and Governor, as specified. The bill would further require each agency to, on or before January 1, 2017, compile an overview of the statutory law that agency administers.

(1) Existing law authorizes various state entities to adopt, amend, or repeal regulations for various specified purposes. The Administrative Procedure Act requires the Office of Administrative Law and a state agency proposing to adopt, amend, or repeal a regulation to review the proposed changes for, among other things, consistency with existing state regulations.

This bill would, until January 1, 2019, require each state agency to, on or before January 1, 2018, and after a noticed public hearing, review and revise that agencys regulations to eliminate any inconsistencies, overlaps, or outdated provisions in the regulations, adopt the revisions as emergency regulations, and report to the Legislature and Governor, as specified. The bill would further require each agency to, on or before January 1, 2017, compile an overview of the statutory law that agency administers.

(2) The act requires a state agency proposing to adopt, amend, or repeal a major regulation, as defined, to prepare a standardized regulatory impact analysis of the proposed change. The act requires the office and the Department of Finance to, from time to time, review the analyses for compliance with specific department regulations. The act further requires the office to, on or before November 1, 2015, submit a report on the analyses to the Senate and Assembly Committees on Governmental Organization, as specified.

This bill would instead require the office and department to annually review the analyses. The bill would also require the office to annually submit a report on the analyses to the Senate Committee on Governmental Organization and the Assembly Committee on Accountability and Administrative Review.

SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair

2015 - 2016 Regular Session

AB 12 (Cooley) - State government: administrative regulations: review

This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.

Bill Summary:

AB 12 would require every state agency to review all provisions of the California Code of Regulations (CCR) it has adopted, and to adopt, amend, or repeal any regulations identified as duplicative, overlapping, or out of date by January 1, 2018.

Fiscal Impact:

• Office of Administrative Law (OAL) costs of approximately $744,000 in the 2016 calendar year and approximately $695,000 in 2017 for 7 PY of full-time, limited-term staff and associated costs to manage a significant increase in workload over two years. (General Fund)
  
  

• Unknown, major aggregate state costs, likely in the millions and potentially over ten million annually for two years, for over 200 state agencies to review all current regulations, make necessary revisions to identified regulations through the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) process, coordinate with other agencies and departments, and report to the Governor and Legislature. (General Fund and various special funds)

Background:

The Administrative Procedures Act (APA) requires the Office of Administrative Law to ensure that state agency regulations 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 along 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 that summarizes and responds to all objections, recommendations and proposed alternatives raised during the public comment period. The OAL is then required to approve or reject the proposed regulation within 30 days.

The OAL is responsible for reviewing administrative regulations proposed by over 200 state regulatory agencies for compliance with the standards set forth in the APA, for transmitting these regulations to the Secretary of State and for publishing regulations in the California Code of Regulations (CCR). On average, OAL reviews nearly 600 files that affect approximately 4,000 regulations packages per year. In 2014, 4,761 proposed regulations were submitted by state agencies for APA review. There are currently nearly 53,000 active regulations in the CCR.

Existing law requires OAL, at the request of any standing, select, or joint committee of the Legislature, to initiate a priority review of any regulation that committee believes does not meet the standards of necessity, authority, clarity, reference, and nonduplication. If OAL is made aware of an existing regulation for which statutory authority has been repealed or becomes ineffective, it must order the agency that adopted the regulation to show cause why it should not be repealed, and notify the Legislature of the order.

Proposed Law:

AB 12 would require each state agency, as defined, to review all provisions of the California Code of Regulations (CCR) adopted by that agency and adopt, amend, or repeal regulations identified as duplicative, overlapping, inconsistent, or out of date. An agency acting on this requirement must hold at least one noticed public meeting to accept public comment, and notify the appropriate committees of the Legislature of the proposed revisions to regulations prior to initiating the APA process. Each state agency must also report to the Governor and Legislature on the number and content of regulations identified as duplicative, overlapping, inconsistent, or out of date, and the agency’s actions to address those regulations. Each agency must complete all of these duties by January 1, 2018.

The bill also requires each cabinet-level agency, by January 1, 2018, to notify departments, boards, or other units within the agency of any regulations it has adopted that may be duplicative, overlapping, or inconsistent with a regulation adopted by another department, board, or unit within the agency. A department within an agency must notify that agency of any proposed revisions to regulations at least 90 days prior to the specified noticed public hearing noted above, and the agency must review the proposal and make recommendations to the department within 30 days. Cabinet-level agencies must also notify other agencies of existing regulations that may duplicate, overlap, or be inconsistent with that agency’s regulations.

The bill’s provisions would sunset on January 1, 2019.

Related Legislation:

SB 981 (Huff), which was held in the Senate Governmental Organization Committee in 2014, would have required state agencies to review regulations adopted in the past and report specified information on each regulation to the Legislature, including whether a regulation is duplicative, still relevant, or needs to be updated to be less burdensome or more effective.

SB 366 (Calderon), which was referred to the Senate Governmental Organization Committee in 2011 but never heard, included provisions that were nearly identical to the introduced version of this bill.

Staff Comments:

This bill is intended to implement a recommendation from an October, 2011 Little Hoover Commission Report entitled Better Regulation: Improving California’s Rulemaking Process. Among the Commission’s recommendations was a suggestion that the state establish a “look-back” mechanism to determine if regulations are effective and still necessary.

The last comprehensive review of state agency regulations occurred when OAL was established in 1980. At that time there were over 125 state agencies and over 40,000 regulations printed in the CCR, and today there are over 200 agencies and nearly 53,000 regulations. In addition, OAL had a staff of 50 employees, including 17 attorneys, while they currently have a staff of 20, half of which are attorneys. OAL anticipates it would need an additional five attorneys and two support staff on a full-time, limited-term basis to manage the significant increase in workload to ensure compliance with the APA for state agency proposals to adopt, amend, or repeal regulations over the next two years. Anticipated staff costs are noted above.

AB 12 would impose significant costs on every state office, department, board, bureau, and commission to review all regulations that each entity has in the CCR, and adopt, amend, or repeal any that are identified as duplicative, overlapping, inconsistent, or outdated. The bill would also require cabinet-level agencies to review the regulations of all of their constituent entities and notify them of any duplication, inconsistency, or overlap with the regulations of one of its other constituent entities. Costs are difficult to quantify in the aggregate since there are over 200 entities that must review regulations, and costs and staffing needs would vary for each of them. For individual agencies, costs could be relatively minor for smaller state entities that have few regulations in the CCR, but likely in the low hundreds of thousands annually for two years for many other agencies that have more, and/or more complex regulations on the books. Some state entities may have costs that exceed $1 million for each of the next two years.

-- END --

SENATE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION

Senator Isadore Hall, III

Chair

2015 - 2016 Regular

Bill No: AB 12 Hearing Date: 7/14/2015

SUBJECT: State government: administrative regulations: review

DIGEST: This bill requires each state agency, on or before January 1, 2018, to review, adopt, amend or repeal any applicable regulations that are duplicative, overlapping, inconsistent, or out of date and revise those identified regulations, as specified.

ANALYSIS:

Existing law:

1. Provides a process, known as the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), for the adoption, amendment, or repeal of regulations by state agencies charged with the implementation of statutes, and for legal review of those regulatory actions by the Office of Administrative Law (OAL). (Government Code Section 11340 et seq.)

2. Directs OAL, at the request of any standing, select, or joint committee of the Legislature, to initiate a priority review of any regulation that the committee believes does not meet the standards of (a) necessity, (b) authority, (c) clarity, (d) reference, and (e) nonduplication. (Government Code Section 11349.7)

3. Specifies that if OAL is notified of, or on its own becomes aware of, an existing regulation for which the statutory authority has been repealed or becomes ineffective, then the OAL shall order the agency to show cause why the regulation should not be repealed, and shall notify the Legislature in writing of this order. (Government Code Section 11349.8)

4. Authorizes an agency that is considering adopting, amending, or repealing a regulation to consult with interested persons before initiating any regulatory action. (Government Code Section 11346)
   
   

This bill:

1. Requires state agencies, on or before January 1, 2018, to adopt, amend or repeal, using procedures provided in current law, those regulations identified as duplicative, overlapping, inconsistent or out of date.
   
   

2. Requires state agencies to hold at least one public hearing, notice that hearing on the Internet and accept public comment on proposed revisions.
   
   

3. Requires state agencies to notify the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature of the proposed revisions to regulations, and then to report to the Governor and the Legislature the number and content of the regulations identified as duplicative, overlapping, inconsistent, or out of date and actions to address those regulations.
   
   

4. Requires specified agencies to identify any existing regulations of a department, board, or other unit within that agency that may be duplicative, overlapping or inconsistent with regulations of other departments, boards or units within that agency.
   
   

5. Contains various legislative findings that the APA does not require agencies to individually review their regulations to identify overlapping, inconsistent, duplicative, or out-of-date regulations that may exist. Also, finds and declares that it is important that state agencies systematically undertake to identify, publicly review, and eliminate overlapping, inconsistent, duplicative, or out-of-date regulations, both to ensure they more efficiently implement and enforce laws and to reduce unnecessary and outdated rules and regulations.
   
   

6. Contains a January 1, 2019 sunset provision.
   
   

Background

Purpose of AB 12. The author’s office notes that “numerous economists and business leaders agree that one of the greatest obstacles to California job growth is the 'thicket' of government regulations that constrain business owners." Under current law, any state agency may review, adopt, amend or repeal any regulation within its statutory authority at any time. The OAL reports that as of December 26, 2014, the number of regulations adopted totaled 67,176. Of those, state agencies had repealed 14,319, or approximately 21%. With 52,857 regulations still active, the author believes more needs to be done. This bill requires state agencies to review their regulatory framework within a two-year timeframe.

The author’s office cites an October 2011 report published by the Milton Marks Little Hoover Commission on California State Government Organization and Economy (Little Hoover Commission) titled, Better Regulation: Improving California's Rulemaking Process which contained several recommendations for improving the state's rulemaking process, including the state establishing a look-back mechanism to determine if regulations are effective and still needed.

According to the author’s office, this bill is intended to implement the "look-back mechanism" approach by establishing a two-year window within which agencies, and the departments, boards and other units within them, must review all regulations that pertain to the mission and programs under their statutory authority. Upon completion of this review, the identified regulations that are deemed to be duplicative, overlapping, inconsistent or out of date may be repealed using the existing processes already provided in the APA. This bill also provides for public hearings and comments and requires that regulatory changes be reported to the Legislature and the Governor.

Staff comments. While it is no doubt true that California has seen a significant increase in the volume and scope of administrative agency regulations in recent years, it should be noted that none of those regulations could ever have been adopted without express, statutory authorization by the Legislature.

Prior/Related Legislation

AB 797 (Steinorth, 2015) requires OAL to submit to the appropriate policy committees of each house of the Legislature for review a copy of each major regulation that it submits to the Secretary of State. The bill also provides that a regulation does not become effective if the Legislature passes a statute to override the regulation. (Held in this committee at author’s request)

SB 981 (Huff, 2014) would have required each state agency to review each regulation adopted prior to January 1, 2014, and to develop a report to the Legislature containing prescribed information. (Held in this Committee)

SB 617 (Calderon, Chapter 496, Statutes of 2011) revised various provisions of the APA and required each state agency to prepare a standardized regulatory impact analysis, as specified, with respect to the adoption, amendment, or repeal of a major regulation, proposed on or after November 1, 2013.

SB 591 (Gaines, 2011) would have enacted the California Smart Regulation Act and required state agencies to reduce the total number of regulations they impose by 33 percent. (Held in this Committee)

SB 553 (Fuller, 2011) would have required that a regulation or an order of repeal of a regulation that has been identified by the agency as having, or as being reasonably likely to have, an adverse economic impact of at least $10 million become effective 180 days after the date it is filed with the Secretary of State, except as provided. (Held in this Committee)

SB 401 (Fuller, 2011), among other things, would have required every regulation proposed by an agency after January 1, 2012, include a provision repealing the regulation in 5 years. (Held in Senate Environmental Quality Committee)

SB 396 (Huff, 2011) would have required each agency to review each regulation adopted prior to January 1, 2011, and develop a report with prescribed information to be submitted to the Legislature on or before January 1, 2013. (Held in Senate Environmental Quality Committee)

SB 366 (Calderon, 2011) would have required each state agency to review its regulations to identify duplicative, overlapping, inconsistent or outdated provisions and repeal or amend identified regulations. Also, would have created a Streamlined Permit Review Team charged with improving the efficiency of the state permitting process for development projects. (Held in this Committee)

AB 429 (Knight, 2011) would have required an agency, for any regulation that it has identified as having a gross cost of $15million or more, an increased cost of 5% or more over the cost of an existing regulation, or both, to submit a copy of the rulemaking record for that regulation to the appropriate policy committee in each house of the Legislature when the agency submits the regulation to OAL for approval. (Held in Assembly policy committee)

SB 942 (Dutton, 2010) would have established an Economic Analysis Unit within OAL and would have required agencies to make publicly available and submit to the unit specified cost estimates related to a proposed regulation and specified information used to develop the cost estimates. (Held in Senate Appropriations Committee)

FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: No

SUPPORT:

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees

Associated Builders and Contractors of California
Building Owners and Managers Association of California
California Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce
California Association of Bed & Breakfast Inns
California Building Industry Association
California Business Properties Association
California Business Roundtable
California Chamber of Commerce
California Construction and Industrial Materials Association
California Grocers Association

California Hotel & Lodging Association
California League of Food Processors
California Manufacturers & Technology Association
California Retailers Association
California Taxpayers Association

Commercial Real Estate Development Association
Consumer Specialty Products Association
Family Business Association
Industrial Environmental Association
International Council of Shopping Centers
National Federation of Independent Business/California
Small Business California

USANA Health Services, Inc.
Western States Petroleum Association

OPPOSITION:

None received

ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: Proponents state that “AB 12 simply directs agencies to look at their regulations and ask the basic questions of necessity, contradiction and complication. We believe that the answers to these regulations will provide greater balance to the laws and regulations and open the door for modernization as the California economy changes with the advent of new industries and technologies.” Proponents also contend that reducing regulatory overlaps, contradictions, and complications would diminish the cost of compliance for California businesses without lowering environmental, health, and safety standards.

ASSEMBLY THIRD READING

ATR Bill Id:AB 12

Author:(Cooley)

As Amended Ver:April 22, 2015

Majority vote

SUMMARY: Requires state agencies and departments to review, adopt, amend or repeal any applicable regulations that are duplicative, overlapping, inconsistent, or out of date. Specifically, this bill:

1. Requires state agencies, on or before January 1, 2018, to adopt, amend or repeal, using procedures provided in current law, those regulations identified as duplicative, overlapping, inconsistent or out of date.

2. Requires state agencies to hold public hearings, notice on the Internet and accept public comment, as specified.

3. Requires state agencies to notify the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature of the proposed revisions to regulations.

4. Requires state agencies to report to the Governor and the Legislature the number and content of the regulations identified as duplicative, overlapping, inconsistent or out of date.

5. Requires specified agencies to identify any existing regulations of a department, board, or other unit within that agency that are duplicative, overlapping or inconsistent with regulations of other departments, boards or units within that agency.

6. Requires the provisions of this bill remain in effect only until January 1, 2019, unless later statute is enacted that deletes or extends that date.

EXISTING LAW:

1. Establishes, under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), basic minimum procedural requirements for the adoption, amendment, or repeal of administrative regulations.

2. Permits an agency, subject to the approval of the Office of Administrative Law (OAL), to add to, revise or delete text published in the California Code of Regulations (CCR) without complying with the rulemaking procedures specified in the APA only if the change does not materially alter any requirement, right, responsibility, condition, prescription or other regulatory element of any CCR provision.

FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee:

1. Annual costs (for two years) to the OAL of approximately $695,000 (General Fund) for seven additional positions (five attorneys, one legal analyst, and one office technician) and additional rent and supplies, to accommodate the additional workload within the two-year timeframe.

2. One-time costs of approximately $50,000 (General Fund) to OAL for office equipment associated with the additional staff.

3. Unknown, but potentially significant costs to state agencies to review and revise, as necessary, all existing regulations. Departments with a large number of regulations may require additional staff, managerial oversight, and administrative support to accommodate the increased workload, public hearings, and reporting requirements. There are currently over 200 state agencies and departments with nearly 53,000 active regulations.

COMMENTS: In October of 2011, the Little Hoover Commission (LHC) published a report titled, Better Regulation: Improving California's Rulemaking Process. The LHC included several recommendations for improving the state's rulemaking process, including that the state should establish a look-back mechanism to determine if regulations are still needed and whether or not they work.

The author's approach to this "look-back mechanism" is to create a two-year window within which agencies, and the departments, boards and other units within them, must review all regulations that pertain to the mission and programs under their statutory authority. Upon completion of this review, the identified regulations that are deemed to be duplicative, overlapping, inconsistent or out of date may be repealed using the existing processes already provided in the APA. This bill also allows for public hearings and comment and requires regulatory changes be reported to the Legislature and the Governor.

The provisions of this bill sunset on January 1, 2019, making the regulatory review, as outlined in this bill, a one-time application. Under current law, any state agency may review, adopt, amend or repeal any regulation within its statutory authority at any time. The OAL reports that as of December 26, 2014, (Register 2014, No. 52) the number of regulations adopted totaled 67,176. Of those, state agencies had repealed 14,319, leaving 52,857 regulations still active. This represents a repeal rate of just over 21%.

Whether this 21% regulatory repeal rate is robust enough remains a question. Both the LHC and the author believe more needs to be done. The author states, "…numerous economists and business leaders agree that one of the greatest obstacles to California job growth is the 'thicket' of government regulations that constrain business owners." The author's bill recognizes that state agencies "may" review their regulatory framework at any time, but specifies that state agencies "shall" review their regulatory framework within the two-year timeframe as provided.

Finally, this bill contains language stating it is not meant to weaken or undermine established statute, or to affect the authority state agencies have to promulgate regulations. A January 1, 2019, sunset date will ensure no long-term changes to current APA requirements.

Analysis Prepared by: William Herms / A. & A.R. / (916) 319-3600 FN: 0000627

Date of Hearing: May 13, 2015

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

Jimmy Gomez, Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:AB 12

Author:(Cooley) – As Amended Ver:April 22, 2015

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

SUMMARY:

This bill requires state agencies and departments to review, adopt, amend or repeal any applicable regulations that are duplicative, overlapping, inconsistent, or out of date by January 1, 2018. As part of this process, state agencies and departments must hold at least one noticed public hearing, and accept public comment on proposed revisions, notify the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature of the proposed revisions, and report to the Governor and the Legislature. The bill contains a January 1, 2019 sunset date.

FISCAL EFFECT:

1. Annual costs (for two years) to the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) of approximately $695,000 (GF) for seven additional positions (five attorneys, one legal analyst, and one office technician) and additional rent and supplies, to accommodate the additional workload within the two-year timeframe.

2. One-time costs of approximately $50,000 (GF) to OAL for office equipment associated with the additional staff.

3. Unknown, but potentially significant costs to state agencies to review and revise, as necessary, all existing regulations. Departments with a large number of regulations may require additional staff, managerial oversight, and administrative support to accommodate the increased workload, public hearings, and reporting requirements. There are currently over 200 state agencies and departments with nearly 53,000 active regulations.

COMMENTS:

1. Purpose. The author states, "…numerous economists and business leaders agree that one of the greatest obstacles to California job growth is the 'thicket' of government regulations that constrain business owners." Under current law, any state agency may review, adopt, amend or repeal any regulation within its statutory authority at any time. The OAL reports that as of December 26, 2014, the number of regulations adopted totaled 67,176. Of those, state agencies had repealed 14,319, or approximately 21%. With 52,857 regulations still active, the author believes more needs to be done. This bill requires state agencies to review their regulatory framework within a two-year timeframe.

2. Background. In October of 2011, the Little Hoover Commission (LHC) published a report titled, Better Regulation: Improving California's Rulemaking Process. The LHC included several recommendations for improving the state's rulemaking process, including the state establishing a look-back mechanism to determine if regulations are effective and still needed.

The author's approach to this "look-back mechanism" is to create a two-year window within which agencies, and the departments, boards and other units within them, must review all regulations that pertain to the mission and programs under their statutory authority. Upon completion of this review, the identified regulations that are deemed to be duplicative, overlapping, inconsistent or out of date may be repealed using the existing processes already provided in the Administrative Procedures Act (APA).

3. Related Legislation. AB 797 (Steinorth), pending referral in the Senate, requires a copy of each major regulation submitted to the Secretary of State (SOS) by the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) to also be submitted to the appropriate Legislative policy committees responsible for the subject matter of the regulation for review.

Analysis Prepared by: Jennifer Swenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081

Date of Hearing: April 29, 2015

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ACCOUNTABILITY AND ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW

Rudy Salas, Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:AB 12

Author:(Cooley) – As Amended Ver:April 22, 2015

SUBJECT: State government: administrative regulations: review

SUMMARY: Requires state agencies and departments to review, adopt, amend or repeal any applicable regulations that are duplicative, overlapping, inconsistent, or out of date. Specifically, this bill:

1. Requires state agencies, on or before January 1, 2018, to adopt, amend or repeal, using procedures provided in current law, those regulations identified as duplicative, overlapping, inconsistent or out of date.

2. Requires state agencies to hold public hearings, notice on the Internet and accept public comment, as specified.

3. Requires state agencies to notify the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature of the proposed revisions to regulations.

4. Requires state agencies to report to the Governor and the Legislature the number and content of the regulations identified as duplicative, overlapping, inconsistent or out of date.

5. Requires specified agencies to identify any existing regulations of a department, board, or other unit within that agency that are duplicative, overlapping or inconsistent with regulations of other departments, boards or units within that agency.

6. Requires the provisions of this bill remain in effect only until January 1, 2019, unless later statute is enacted that deletes or extends that date.

EXISTING LAW:

1. Establishes, under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), basic minimum procedural requirements for the adoption, amendment, or repeal of administrative regulations.

2. Permits an agency, subject to the approval of the Office of Administrative Law (OAL), to add to, revise or delete text published in the California Code of Regulations (CCR) without complying with the rulemaking procedures specified in the APA only if the change does not materially alter any requirement, right, responsibility, condition, prescription or other regulatory element of any CCR provision.

FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown

COMMENTS: In October of 2011, the Little Hoover Commission (LHC) published a report titled, Better Regulation: Improving California's Rulemaking Process. The LHC included several recommendations for improving the state's rulemaking process, including that the state should establish a look-back mechanism to determine if regulations are still needed and whether or not they work.
The author's approach to this "look-back mechanism" is to create a two-year window within which agencies, and the departments, boards and other units within them, must review all regulations that pertain to the mission and programs under their statutory authority. Upon completion of this review, the identified regulations that are deemed to be duplicative, overlapping, inconsistent or out of date may be repealed using the existing processes already provided in the APA. This bill also allows for public hearings and comment and requires regulatory changes be reported to the Legislature and the Governor.

The provisions of this bill sunset on January 1, 2019, making the regulatory review, as outlined in this bill, a one-time application. Under current law, any state agency may review, adopt, amend or repeal any regulation within its statutory authority at any time. The OAL reports that as of December 26, 2014, (Register 2014, No. 52) the number of regulations adopted totaled 67,176. Of those, state agencies had repealed 14,319, leaving 52,857 regulations still active. This represents a repeal rate of just over 21%.

Whether this 21% regulatory repeal rate is robust enough remains a question. Both the LHC and the author believe more needs to be done. The author states, "…numerous economists and business leaders agree that one of the greatest obstacles to California job growth is the 'thicket' of government regulations that constrain business owners." The author's bill recognizes that state agencies "may" review their regulatory framework at any time, but specifies that state agencies "shall" review their regulatory framework within the two-year timeframe as provided.

Finally, this bill contains language stating it is not meant to weaken or undermine established statute, or to affect the authority state agencies have to promulgate regulations. A January 1, 2019, sunset date will ensure no long-term changes to current APA requirements.

REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:

Support

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees

Associated Builders and Contractors of California

Building Owners and Managers Association of California

California Apartment Association

California Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce

California Association of Bed and Breakfast Inns

California Building Industry Association

California Business Properties Association

California Business Roundtable

California Chamber of Commerce

California Construction and Industrial Materials Association

California Hotel and Lodging Association

California League of Food Processors

California Manufacturers & Technology Association

California Retailers Association

Central Coast Forest Association

Commercial Real Estate Development Association, NAIOP of Calif.

Consumer Specialty Products Association

Industrial Environmental Association

International Council of Shopping Centers

National Federation of Independent Business/California

Simi Valley Chamber of Commerce

Small Business California

USANA Health Sciences, Inc.

Western States Petroleum Association

Opposition

None on file

Analysis Prepared by: William Herms / A. & A.R. / (916) 319-3600