Bill Text: CA SB591 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Administrative regulations: reductions.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-01-31 - Returned to Secretary of Senate pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [SB591 Detail]
Download: California-2011-SB591-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: SB 591 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 29, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Senator Gaines
FEBRUARY 17, 2011
An act to amend Section 8544.5 Sections
8544.5, 11349, and 11349.1 of, and to add and repeal Article 9.5
(commencing with Section 11362) of Chapter 3.5 of Part 1 of Division
3 of Title 2 of, the Government Code, relating to administrative
regulations.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 591, as amended, Gaines. Administrative regulations:
reductions.
(1) The Administrative Procedure Act generally sets forth the
requirements for the adoption, publication, review, and
implementation of regulations by state agencies , and for review
of those regulatory actions by the Office of Administrative Law.
Existing law requires the office to review a proposed regulation for
necessity, authority, clarity, consistency, reference, and
nonduplication, as defined .
This bill would also require the office to review a proposed
regulation for burden, as defined.
This bill would, until December 31, 2021, enact the California
Smart Regulation Act. The bill would require, on or before July 1,
2012, that a state agency determine how many regulations it imposes
and, on or before December 31, 2013, to reduce the total number of
regulations it has identified by 33%. The bill would require an
agency to give priority to eliminating regulations that increase the
regulatory burden on businesses and the business climate. The bill
would also require, until December 31, 2021, that any new regulation
proposed by an agency also eliminate another regulation. The
bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2022, as specified.
(2) Existing law establishes the Bureau of State Audits, which is
headed by the State Auditor and has specified statutory duties.
This bill would require an agency to submit a report of the
regulations eliminated or identified for elimination to the State
Auditor. The bill would require the State Auditor to perform an
evaluation of the identified regulations and determine, in a report
submitted to the Legislature, whether the removal of the regulations
will result in a positive impact on the regulatory burden on
businesses and the business climate. This bill would require the
Legislature to appropriate funds to the State Auditor sufficient to
fulfill these duties. The bill would repeal these provisions on
January 1, 2022, as specified.
(3) This bill would repeal its provisions on January 1, 2022, 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. Section 8544.5 of the Government Code is amended to
read:
8544.5. (a) There is hereby established in the State Treasury the
State Audit Fund. Notwithstanding Section 13340, the State Audit
Fund is continuously appropriated for the expenses of the State
Auditor, except expenses incurred pursuant to Section 11363. There
shall be appropriated annually in the Budget Act to the State Audit
Fund, from the General Fund and the Central Service Cost Recovery
Fund, the amount necessary to reimburse the State Audit Fund for the
cost of audits to be performed that are not directly reimbursed under
subdivision (c). "Cost of audits" means all direct and indirect
costs of conducting the audits and any other expenses incurred by the
State Auditor in fulfilling his or her statutory responsibilities.
(b) With regard to the funds appropriated pursuant to subdivision
(a), upon certification by the State Auditor of estimated costs on a
monthly basis, the Controller shall transfer the amount thus
certified from the General Fund or the Central Service Cost Recovery
Fund, as applicable, to the State Audit Fund. The Controller shall
thereafter issue warrants drawn against the State Audit Fund upon
receipt of claims certified by the State Auditor.
(c) To ensure appropriate reimbursement from federal and special
funds for the costs of the duties performed pursuant to Section
8546.3, the State Auditor may directly bill state agencies for the
costs incurred, subject to the approval of the Director of Finance.
(d) To ensure adequate oversight of the operations of the bureau,
the Milton Marks "Little Hoover" Commission on California State
Government Organization and Economy shall annually obtain the
services of an independent public accountant to audit the State Audit
Fund and the operation of the bureau to ensure compliance with state
law, including Section 8546. The results of this audit shall be
submitted to the commission and shall be a public record.
(e) To ensure that audits of the Milton Marks "Little Hoover"
Commission on California State Government Organization and Economy
are conducted in conformity with government auditing standards, any
audit of the commission that is required or permitted by law shall be
conducted by the independent public accountant selected pursuant to
subdivision (d).
SEC. 2. Section 11349 of the Government
Code is amended to read:
11349. The following definitions govern the interpretation of
this chapter:
(a) "Necessity" means the record of the rulemaking proceeding
demonstrates by substantial evidence the need for a regulation to
effectuate the purpose of the statute, court decision, or other
provision of law that the regulation implements, interprets, or makes
specific, taking into account the totality of the record. For
purposes of this standard, evidence includes, but is not limited to,
facts, studies, and expert opinion.
(b) "Authority" means the provision of law which permits or
obligates the agency to adopt, amend, or repeal a regulation.
(c) "Clarity" means written or displayed so that the meaning of
regulations will be easily understood by those persons directly
affected by them.
(d) "Consistency" means being in harmony with, and not in conflict
with or contradictory to, existing statutes, court decisions, or
other provisions of law.
(e) "Reference" means the statute, court decision, or other
provision of law which the agency implements, interprets, or makes
specific by adopting, amending, or repealing a regulation.
(f) "Nonduplication" means that a regulation does not serve the
same purpose as a state or federal statute or another regulation.
This standard requires that an agency proposing to amend or adopt a
regulation must identify any state or federal statute or regulation
which is overlapped or duplicated by the proposed regulation and
justify any overlap or duplication. This standard is not intended to
prohibit state agencies from printing relevant portions of enabling
legislation in regulations when the duplication is necessary to
satisfy the clarity standard in paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of
Section 11349.1. This standard is intended to prevent the
indiscriminate incorporation of statutory language in a regulation.
(g) "Burden" means that the record of the rulemaking proceeding
demonstrates by substantial evidence, taking into account the
totality of that record, that no alternative regulation proposed to
the agency would be less costly to persons subject to the regulation
and would be equally effective in achieving the purpose of the
statute, court decision, or other provision of law that the
regulation implements, interprets, or makes specific.
SEC. 3. Section 11349.1 of the
Government Code 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.
(7) Burden.
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.
(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.
(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.
This subdivision shall not limit the review of regulations under
this article, including, but not limited to, the conformity of
rulemaking files to subdivisions (a) and (b) of Section 11347.3.
SEC. 2. SEC. 4. Article 9.5
(commencing with Section 11362) is added to Chapter 3.5 of Part 1 of
Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, to read:
Article 9.5. Reduction of Regulations
11362. This article shall be known as the California Smart
Regulation Act.
11363. (a) On or before July 1, 2012, every agency shall
determine how many regulations it imposes.
(b) On or before December 31, 2013, every agency shall reduce the
total number of regulations it has identified pursuant to subdivision
(a) by 33 percent. In determining which regulations to eliminate, an
agency shall give priority to the elimination of regulations that
increase the regulatory burden on businesses and the business
climate. An agency shall submit a report of the regulations
eliminated or identified for elimination pursuant to this subdivision
to the State Auditor.
(c) (1) The State Auditor shall perform an evaluation of the
regulations contained in the agency report for the purpose of
determining whether the removal of the regulations will result in a
positive impact on the regulatory burden on businesses and the
business climate. The State Auditor shall report the results of the
evaluation to the Legislature.
(2) The Legislature shall appropriate funds to the State Auditor
sufficient to fulfill the duties imposed on the State Auditor
pursuant to this section.
(d) Until December 31, 2021, any new regulation proposed by an
agency shall also eliminate another regulation.
(e) This article shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2022, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2022, deletes or extends
that date.
