{"id":150073,"date":"2026-01-26T15:21:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T15:21:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/150073\/"},"modified":"2026-01-26T15:21:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T15:21:08","slug":"california-lawmaker-wants-the-legislature-to-ok-regulatory-rules-with-massive-price-tags-orange-county-register","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/150073\/","title":{"rendered":"California lawmaker wants the legislature to OK regulatory rules with massive price tags \u2013 Orange County Register"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new bill in the California Legislature<\/a> aims to regulate state regulators a bit.<\/p>\n

Sen. Tony Strickland, R-Huntington Beach, is pushing legislation that would limit the ability of state agencies and regulators to adopt unilaterally major regulations that cost $50 million or more.<\/p>\n

Sacramento Snapshot<\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s note:\u00a0Sacramento Snapshot<\/a>\u00a0is a weekly series during the legislative session detailing what Orange County\u2019s representatives in the Assembly and Senate are working on \u2014 from committee work to bill passages and more.<\/p>\n

State regulators \u2014 the California Air Resources Board, the Department of Insurance, and the Bureau of Gambling Control are just three examples of the more than 200 in California<\/a> \u2014 are government entities that oversee, adopt or enforce rules for certain activities, professions or industries<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Senate Bill 885<\/a>, the newly introduced bill from Strickland, notes state law already requires state agencies to assess the potential for adverse economic impacts when proposing to adopt, change or repeal a regulation and submit an analysis to the Department of Finance for comment should a major regulation be expected to have an impact of at least $50 million to California businesses or people.<\/p>\n

The bill would add, however, a requirement that these agencies also submit a proposal to the legislature if an estimated impact is at least $50 million, and it would be up to lawmakers to give the final OK before the new, changed or repealed regulation could go into effect.<\/p>\n

\"Sen.Sen. Tony Strickland, R-Huntington Beach, is behind a bill that would require the California Legislature to OK new or changed regulations that would cost at least $50 million. He\u2019s pictured here at a Huntington Beach Memorial Day ceremony in 2025. (Photo by Sam Gangwer\/Contributing Photographer)<\/p>\n

\u201cCalifornians deserve to know who is responsible when major regulations raise costs, eliminate jobs or disrupt entire industries,\u201d Strickland said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor too long, unaccountable boards and commissions have held too much power, allowing elected officials to dodge making tough votes while imposing sweeping regulations with massive economic consequences for working families,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Related: What Orange County legislators plan to address in 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Since the legislation was only recently introduced, it hasn\u2019t been discussed in a committee hearing and does not yet have a bill analysis.<\/p>\n

But a press release from Strickland\u2019s office said the effort stems from comments Liane Randolph, then the chair of the California Air Resources Board, made during a hearing in May. (Randolph retired<\/a> at the end of September.)<\/p>\n

Randolph said then that the agency<\/a>, known by the acronym CARB, calculates impacts to health and health disparities in certain communities but not the retail costs to consumers.<\/p>\n

\u201cCorrect, we don\u2019t analyze a retail cost,\u201d Randolph said. \u201cWhat we don\u2019t do is take the next step to extrapolate how that cost would flow through to the consumer because in many instances that would be speculative.\u201d<\/p>\n

The remark angered lawmakers on both sides of the aisle<\/a> at the time, and it was quickly walked back.<\/p>\n

Randolph was asked about that remark in an August hearing by Assemblymember Laurie Davies, R-Laguna Niguel.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve always done that impact assessment,\u201d Randolph said during that hearing, the remarks captured by CalMatters\u2019 Digital Democracy project<\/a>. \u201cThe conversation previously was about the question of retail prices, and retail prices are difficult to anticipate. However, the overall economic analysis is carefully considered in extensive economic analysis \u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lindsay Buckley, a spokesperson for CARB, said the agency does not comment on pending legislation. However, she pushed back again on the comments made in May.<\/p>\n

\u201cFormer Chair Randolph specified and clarified again later in the hearing that CARB follows the full letter of the law and develops a Standardized Regulatory Impact Assessment<\/a> (SRIA) for all major regulations with an economic impact exceeding $50 million,\u201d Buckley said in an email. \u201cThis includes overall economic and fiscal impact assessments to ensure benefits outweigh costs. In addition to the state\u2019s weekly public tracking of gas prices, costs of compliance \u2014 and benefits achieved \u2014 are transparently reported as part of regular evaluation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Strickland, meanwhile, said it should be up to elected officials to \u201cbe the ones accountable\u201d for deciding whether a rule that costs Californians tens of millions of dollars should be implemented.<\/p>\n

\u201cSB 885 doesn\u2019t stop regulation. It stops unaccountable regulation,\u201d the Republican senator said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs an elected official, I answer directly to the people, but that\u2019s not the case for these political appointees,\u201d he added. \u201cMy legislation puts accountability back where it belongs: with the legislators who are elected by, and answer to, the people of California.\u201d<\/p>\n

CARB, which tackles air pollution and climate change, is comprised of 12 members<\/a>, appointed by the governor and confirmed by the state Senate. That group includes six who serve on local air districts, four experts in fields that shape air quality rules, two public members and the chair, who serves as the only full-time member. In addition, it includes two who represent environmental justice efforts (one is appointed by the Assembly, the other by the Senate) as well as two nonvoting members for legislative oversight, one from each chamber.<\/p>\n

In other news<\/p>\n

\u2022 Sen. Bob Archuleta, a Democrat whose district includes Buena Park, is behind a new bill that would strengthen California\u2019s DUI laws, particularly for repeat offenders. Archuleta\u2019s granddaughter was killed in a car accident<\/a> in 2024; the driver of the other vehicle involved in the accident was arrested, his blood alcohol content at 0.22%,\u00a0the Apple Valley Police Department said<\/a>. The legal blood-alcohol level limit for driving in California is .08%.<\/p>\n

Archuleta has partnered with Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer on Senate Bill 907<\/a>, which, among other things, increases the punishment for hit-and-runs if the driver has a prior DUI conviction within 10 years and implements penalty enhancements for repeat offenders who have prior felony DUI convictions upon a new felony DUI.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe must strengthen California\u2019s laws to better support law enforcement, and most importantly, we must stand with and support the families who are devastated by drunk drivers,\u201d said Archuleta. \u201cThese are preventable tragedies, and California must step up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris, D-Irvine, is a principal coauthor of the legislation. The pair had partnered on legislation extending California\u2019s law<\/a> requiring breathalyzers be installed in cars after DUI convictions last year.<\/p>\n

\u2022 A new bill<\/a> from Assemblymember Kate Sanchez, R-Rancho Santa Margarita, would allow Californians to deduct homeowners\u2019 insurance premiums for their primary residence from their state taxable income for taxable years 2026 through 2031.<\/p>\n

\u201cCalifornia has become unaffordable for too many families who are doing everything right,\u201d Sanchez said in a statement. \u201cBetween housing, gas, groceries and insurance, people are being squeezed from every direction. This bill is about keeping people in their homes, and making California liveable again.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new bill in the California Legislature aims to regulate state regulators a bit. Sen. Tony Strickland, R-Huntington…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":113747,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,1843,8,100,611,13,41780,136],"class_list":{"0":"post-150073","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-california","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-california-headlines","10":"tag-california-legislature","11":"tag-california-news","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-orange-county","14":"tag-politics","15":"tag-sacramento-snapshot","16":"tag-top-stories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150073","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150073"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150073\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/113747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}