An act to add and repeal Chapter 1.7 (commencing with Section 12100.200) of Part 2 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, relating to state government.
Summary
SB 688 would create a new, temporary Office of Regulatory Counsel within the Governor’s Office and place it under a director appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate. The office would be responsible for drafting and assisting state agencies with the preparation, consideration, amendment, and repeal of regulations before those regulations are submitted to the Office of Administrative Law for publication in the California Regulatory Notice Register.
The bill is framed as a way to improve the quality of state rulemaking by centralizing regulatory drafting expertise. Its findings state that executive branch rulemaking entities would benefit from a centralized drafting office and that many regulations are disapproved by the Office of Administrative Law for problems with clarity and consistency. The bill also states that the office’s costs would be absorbed within existing state resources and that the new chapter would sunset on January 1, 2035.
Impact
SB 688 would add Chapter 1.7 to the Government Code and create a new state office within the Governor’s Office, changing the regulatory drafting process for state agencies by inserting a centralized counsel function before OAL review. It would not change the Administrative Procedure Act itself, but it would affect how agencies develop regulations and could influence the quality, consistency, and legal defensibility of proposed rules. The bill is temporary, expiring on January 1, 2035, and is described as having no new or additional state costs because it is to be implemented using existing resources.
Sentiment
The available vote history suggests generally favorable committee sentiment toward the bill, with the measure advancing 13-0 on a do-pass motion with re-referral to Appropriations and later being placed on the suspense file by a 7-0 vote. No committee transcript is provided, so there is no recorded debate to indicate strong public disagreement in the materials supplied. Overall, the bill appears to have been treated as a technical government-operations proposal with support for its stated goal of improving regulatory drafting.
Contention
The main potential point of contention is structural: the bill would create a new office inside the Governor’s Office to assist agencies in drafting regulations, which could raise questions about centralizing control over rulemaking and how much independence agencies retain in developing their own regulations. Another possible issue is whether the promised cost neutrality is realistic, since the bill creates a new office and director position even while claiming costs will be absorbed by existing resources. The legislative findings also suggest the bill is intended to reduce OAL disapprovals based on clarity and consistency, so any disagreement would likely center on whether a new office is the best way to address those problems.
An act to add Section 37224 to, and to add Article 12 (commencing with Section 66095) to Chapter 2 of Part 40 of Division 5 of Title 3 of, the Education Code, and to amend Sections 11131 and 54961 of the Government Code, relating to holidays.
Creating the regulatory relief division within the office of the attorney general and establishing the general regulatory sandbox program to waive or suspend rules and regulations for program participants.
To amend sections 121.95 and 121.951 of the Revised Code to revise the definition of "regulatory restriction" for purposes of administrative rulemaking and to specify that certain rule changes alone do not eliminate a restriction.