Bill Text: CA AB1659 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: State government: agency repeals.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-1)

Status: (Passed) 2010-09-30 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 666, Statutes of 2010. [AB1659 Detail]

Download: California-2009-AB1659-Amended.html

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BILL NUMBER: AB 1659	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 7, 2010

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Huber

                        JANUARY 19, 2010

   An act to add Article 7.5 (commencing with Section 9147.7) to
Chapter 1.5 of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 2 of the Government
Code, relating to state government.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1659, as amended, Huber. State government: agency repeals.
   Existing law establishes the Joint Committee on Boards,
Commissions, and Consumer Protection and, until January 1, 2012,
requires the committee to hold public hearings at specified times and
to evaluate whether a board or regulatory program has demonstrated a
need for its continued existence. Existing law states the intent of
the Legislature that all existing and proposed state boards be
subject to review every 4 years to evaluate and determine whether
each has demonstrated a public need for its continued existence, as
specified.
   This bill would create the Joint Sunset Review Committee to
identify and eliminate waste, duplication, and inefficiency in
government agencies, as defined, and to conduct a comprehensive
analysis of every agency to determine if the agency is still
necessary and cost effective. The bill would require each agency
scheduled for repeal to submit a report to the committee containing
specified information. The bill would require the committee to take
public testimony and evaluate the agency prior to the date the agency
is scheduled to be repealed, and would require that an agency be
eliminated unless the Legislature enacts a law  , based upon
a recommendation endorsed by a vote of the majority of the members of
the committee,  to extend, consolidate, or reorganize the
agency. The bill would specify the composition of the committee,
which would be appointed by the President pro Tempore of the Senate
 ,   and  the Speaker of the Assembly,
 and the Governor,  and certain aspects of its
operating procedure. The bill would also make a statement of
legislative intent to enact legislation that provides for the repeal
of every entity of state government, excluding an agency that is
constitutionally created or an agency related to higher education.
   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.  (a) It is the intent of the Legislature to enact
legislation that provides for the repeal of every entity of state
government, excluding an agency that is constitutionally created or
an agency related to higher education, in order to eliminate waste,
duplication, and inefficiency in state government, subject to a
review and a subsequent affirmative act of the Legislature to extend,
consolidate, or reorganize the entity.
   (b) It is further the intent of the Legislature to create a
special committee specifically composed to conduct a periodic review
and evaluation of every entity described in subdivision (a), which
would make recommendations, after appropriate factfinding and
evaluation, regarding the continued existence of state governmental
agencies or their consolidation or reorganization.
  SEC. 2.  Article 7.5 (commencing with Section 9147.7) is added to
Chapter 1.5 of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 2 of the Government
Code, to read:

      Article 7.5.  Sunset Review


   9147.7.  (a) For the purpose of this section, "agency" means any
agency, authority, board, bureau, commission, conservancy, council,
department, division, or office of state government, however
denominated, excluding an agency that is constitutionally created or
an agency related to postsecondary education.
   (b) The Joint Sunset Review Committee is hereby created to
identify and eliminate waste, duplication, and inefficiency in
government agencies. The purpose of the committee is to conduct a
comprehensive analysis of every agency to determine if the agency is
still necessary and cost effective.
   (c) Each agency scheduled for repeal shall submit to the
committee, on or before December 1 prior to the year it is set to be
repealed, a complete agency report covering the entire period since
last reviewed  ,  including, but not limited to, the
following:
   (1) The purpose and necessity of the agency.
   (2) A description of the agency budget, priorities, and job
descriptions of employees of the agency.
   (3) All programs and projects under the direction of the agency.
   (4) Measures of the success or failures of the agency and
justifications for the metrics used to evaluate successes and
failures.
   (5) Any recommendations of the agency for changes or
reorganization in order to better fulfill its purpose.
   (d) The committee shall take public testimony and evaluate the
agency prior to the date the agency is scheduled to be repealed. An
agency shall be eliminated unless the Legislature enacts a law
 , based upon a recommendation endorsed by a vote of the
majority of the members of the committee,  to extend,
consolidate, or reorganize the agency. No agency shall be extended in
perpetuity unless specifically exempted from the provisions of this
section. The committee may recommend that the Legislature extend the
statutory sunset date for no more than one year to allow the
committee more time to evaluate the agency.
   (e) The committee shall be comprised of  nine
 10  members of the Legislature. The President pro Tempore
of the Senate shall appoint  three   five 
members of the Senate to the committee, not more than  two
  three  of whom shall be members of the same
political party. The Speaker of the Assembly shall appoint 
three   five  members of the Assembly to the
committee, not more than  two   three  of
whom shall be members of the same political party.  The
Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint
three members to the committee, not more than two of whom shall be
members of the same political party.  Members shall be
appointed within 15 days after the commencement of the regular
session. Each member of the committee who is appointed by the
President pro Tempore of the Senate or the Speaker of the Assembly
shall serve during that committee member's term of office or until
that committee member no longer is a Member of the Senate or the
Assembly, whichever is applicable.  Each member of the
committee who is appointed by the Governor shall serve a two-year
term that ends on the 30th day of November in even number years.
 A vacancy on the committee shall be filled in the same
manner as the original appointment.  Five  Six
 members of the committee shall constitute a quorum for the
conduct of committee business. Members of the committee shall receive
no compensation for their work with the committee.
   (f) The committee shall meet not later than 30 days after the
first day of the regular session to choose a chairperson and to
establish the schedule for agency review provided for in the statutes
governing the agencies. The chairperson of the committee shall
alternate every two years between a Member of the Senate and a Member
of the Assembly, and the vice chairperson of the committee shall be
a member of the opposite house as the chairperson.
   (g) This section shall not be construed to change the existing
jurisdiction of the budget or policy committees of the Legislature.