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 and to conduct a comprehensive analysis of every "eligible agency," as defined, to determine if the agency is still necessary and cost effective. The bill would define an "eligible agency" as an entity of state government, however denominated, for which a date for repeal has been established by statute on or after January 1, 2011. The bill would require each eligible 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the committee to take public testimony and evaluate the eligible agency prior to the date the agency is scheduled to be repealed, and would require that an eligible agency be eliminated unless the Legislature enacts a law to extend, consolidate, or reorganize the agency. The bill would specify the composition of the committee, which would be appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules and the Speaker of the Assembly, and certain aspects of its operating procedure.