Bill Text: CA AB1537 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Government Accountability Act of 2012.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 10-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-04-10 - In committee: Set, second hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author. [AB1537 Detail]
Download: California-2011-AB1537-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 1537 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 28, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 19, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 13, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Cook
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Garrick, Miller, Nestande,
and Olsen)
(Coauthors: Senators Cannella, Dutton, Harman, Huff, and La Malfa)
JANUARY 24, 2012
An act to amend Section 11349.1 of, and to add Section 11346.15
to, the Government Code, relating to regulations.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1537, as amended, Cook. Government Accountability Act of 2012.
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.
This bill would enact the Government Accountability Act of 2012
and require that a major regulation, as defined, proposed on or after
January 1, 2013, include a provision to repeal the regulation 2
years after the date that the regulation is approved by the office.
The bill would require the office to return to an agency any proposed
regulation that does not include the repeal provision. The bill
would provide that the repeal date shall be void if the Legislature
enacts a statute that expressly validates and approves the content of
the regulation, as specified.
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. This act shall be known as the Government
Accountability Act of 2012.
SEC. 2. Section 11346.15 is added to the Government Code, to read:
11346.15. (a) This section shall apply to any major regulation,
as defined in Section 11342.548, proposed on or after January 1,
2013.
(b) Every regulation described in subdivision (a) shall include a
provision that repeals the regulation two years after the date that
the regulation is approved by the office.
(c) If the Legislature enacts a statute expressly validating and
approving the content of a regulation, and the statute takes effect
prior to the repeal date designated for the regulation, then the
repeal date shall be void and the regulation shall continue in effect
until any later time as may be provided by the validating statute.
SEC. 3. Section 11349.1 of the Government Code , as
amended by Section 9 of Chapter 496 of the Statutes of 2011,
is amended to read:
11349.1. (a) The office shall review all regulations adopted,
amended, or repealed pursuant to the procedure specified in Article 5
(commencing with Section 11346) and submitted to it for publication
in the California Code of Regulations Supplement and for transmittal
to the Secretary of State and make determinations using all of the
following standards:
(1) Necessity.
(2) Authority.
(3) Clarity.
(4) Consistency.
(5) Reference.
(6) Nonduplication.
In reviewing regulations pursuant to this section, the office
shall restrict its review to the regulation and the record of the
rulemaking proceeding. The office shall approve the regulation or
order of repeal if it complies with the standards set forth in this
section and with this chapter.
(b) In reviewing proposed regulations for the criteria in
subdivision (a), the office may consider the clarity of the proposed
regulation in the context of related regulations already in
existence.
(c) The office shall adopt regulations governing the procedures it
uses in reviewing regulations submitted to it. The regulations shall
provide for an orderly review and shall specify the methods,
standards, presumptions, and principles the office uses, and the
limitations it observes, in reviewing regulations to establish
compliance with the standards specified in subdivision (a). The
regulations adopted by the office shall ensure that it does not
substitute its judgment for that of the rulemaking agency as
expressed in the substantive content of adopted regulations.
(d) The office shall return any regulation subject to this chapter
to the adopting agency if any of the following occur:
(1) The adopting agency has not prepared the estimate required by
paragraph (6) of subdivision (a) of Section 11346.5 and has not
included the data used and calculations made and the summary report
of the estimate in the file of the rulemaking.
(2) The agency has not complied with Section 11346.3.
"Noncompliance" means that the agency failed to complete the economic
impact assessment or standardized regulatory impact analysis
required by Section 11346.3 or failed to include the assessment or
analysis in the file of the rulemaking proceeding as required by
Section 11347.3.
(3) The adopting agency has prepared the estimate required by
paragraph (6) of subdivision (a) of Section 11346.5, the estimate
indicates that the regulation will result in a cost to local agencies
or school districts that is required to be reimbursed under Part 7
(commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4, and the adopting
agency fails to do any of the following:
(A) Cite an item in the Budget Act for the fiscal year in which
the regulation will go into effect as the source from which the
Controller may pay the claims of local agencies or school districts.
(B) Cite an accompanying bill appropriating funds as the source
from which the Controller may pay the claims of local agencies or
school districts.
(C) Attach a letter or other documentation from the Department of
Finance which states that the Department of Finance has approved a
request by the agency that funds be included in the Budget Bill for
the next following fiscal year to reimburse local agencies or school
districts for the costs mandated by the regulation.
(D) Attach a letter or other documentation from the Department of
Finance which states that the Department of Finance has authorized
the augmentation of the amount available for expenditure under the
agency's appropriation in the Budget Act which is for reimbursement
pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 to
local agencies or school districts from the unencumbered balances of
other appropriations in the Budget Act and that this augmentation is
sufficient to reimburse local agencies or school districts for their
costs mandated by the regulation.
(4) The proposed regulation conflicts with an existing state
regulation and the agency has not identified the manner in which the
conflict may be resolved.
(5) The agency did not make the alternatives determination as
required by paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) of Section 11346.9.
(6) The regulation does not include provisions for the repeal of
the regulation, as required by Section 11346.15.
(e) The office shall notify the Department of Finance of all
regulations returned pursuant to subdivision (d).
(f) The office shall return a rulemaking file to the submitting
agency if the file does not comply with subdivisions (a) and (b) of
Section 11347.3. Within three state working days of the receipt of a
rulemaking file, the office shall notify the submitting agency of any
deficiency identified. If no notice of deficiency is mailed to the
adopting agency within that time, a rulemaking file shall be deemed
submitted as of the date of its original receipt by the office. A
rulemaking file shall not be deemed submitted until each deficiency
identified under this subdivision has been corrected.
(g) Notwithstanding any other law, return of
the regulation to the adopting agency by the office pursuant to this
section is shall be the exclusive
remedy for a failure to comply with subdivision (c) of Section
11346.3 or paragraph (10) of subdivision (a) of Section 11346.5.
