CALIFORNIA: Three bills supported by the California Chamber of Commerce to provide regulatory relief to California businesses passed legislative policy committees.
AB 12 (Cooley; D-Rancho Cordova) strengthens the accountability and transparency of the state’s regulatory process, paving the way to effective and least burdensome regulations.
AB 12 requires state agencies to review existing regulations to address inconsistencies, overlaps and outdated provisions and adopt amendments to eliminate those issues.
AB 410 (Obernolte; R-Big Bear Lake) requires state agencies to post to their website any report they are required or requested by law to be submitted to a legislative committee. This strengthens transparency to the public and accountability of state agency operations to the Legislature.
All documents become subject to the state Public Records Act once they are shared with the Legislature, but there is no requirement that these reports be posted online. SB 410 simply removes any barrier for public access to reports to the Legislature by state agencies so the reports are posted online, thereby increasing transparency, promoting accountability and facilitating public engagement.
Both AB 12 and AB 410 passed the Assembly Accountability and Administrative Review Committee on April 29.
The third bill passed the Assembly Jobs, Economic Development and the Economy Committee on April 29.
AB 19 (Chang; R-Diamond Bar) requires a review of regulations, and then the opportunity to amend those regulations to be less costly and less burdensome for small business.
Specifically, AB 19 requires the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz), under the direction of the Small Business Advocate, establish a process for the ongoing review of existing regulations affecting small businesses in order to determine whether those rules need to be amended to become more effective, less burdensome or less costly for small businesses. The bill creates an important opportunity to improve the process and work toward creating a more favorable regulatory climate in which to create jobs and grow California’s economy.
Nearly 90% of all businesses in California have fewer than 20 employees; these businesses create the most new jobs, according to the U.S. Census Bureau and the Kauffman Foundation.
