CA SB 688
deadOffice of Regulatory Counsel.
California · 2025-2026 Regular Session · upper
Quick answers
Did CA SB 688 pass?
No. CA SB 688 did not pass — it was defeated or died in the legislative process (2026-02-02). Latest recorded action (2026-02-02): Returned to Secretary of Senate pursuant to Joint Rule 56.
What is CA SB 688 about?
Existing law establishes the Government Operations Agency, which consists of several departments including the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) . Existing law, the Administrative Procedure Act, governs the procedure for the adoption, amendment, or repeal of regulations by state agencies and for the review of those regulatory actions by the OAL. Existing law requires the OAL to provide for the publication of the California Regulatory Notice Register and to include specified information in the register, including notices of proposed action prepared by regulatory agencies, a summary of regulations filed with the Secretary of State, and a summary of regulation decisions issued, as specified. This bill, until January 1, 2035, would establish the Office of Regulatory Counsel in state government within the Governor's office, under the direction and control of a director. The bill would require the director to be appointed by the Governor, subject to confirmation of the Senate and for the director's term to be coterminous with that of the appointing power, except as provided. This bill would require the office to draft and assist in the preparation, consideration, amendment, and repeal of regulations for a state agency, before the state agency submits a proposed action regarding that regulation to the OAL for publication in the California Regulatory Notice Register. The bill would make related legislative findings and declarations.
Who sponsors CA SB 688?
Niello is the primary sponsor of CA SB 688.
Description
Existing law establishes the Government Operations Agency, which consists of several departments including the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) . Existing law, the Administrative Procedure Act, governs the procedure for the adoption, amendment, or repeal of regulations by state agencies and for the review of those regulatory actions by the OAL. Existing law requires the OAL to provide for the publication of the California Regulatory Notice Register and to include specified information in the register, including notices of proposed action prepared by regulatory agencies, a summary of regulations filed with the Secretary of State, and a summary of regulation decisions issued, as specified. This bill, until January 1, 2035, would establish the Office of Regulatory Counsel in state government within the Governor's office, under the direction and control of a director. The bill would require the director to be appointed by the Governor, subject to confirmation of the Senate and for the director's term to be coterminous with that of the appointing power, except as provided. This bill would require the office to draft and assist in the preparation, consideration, amendment, and repeal of regulations for a state agency, before the state agency submits a proposed action regarding that regulation to the OAL for publication in the California Regulatory Notice Register. The bill would make related legislative findings and declarations.
- Introduced
- 2025-02-21
- Latest action
- 2026-02-02 — Returned to Secretary of Senate pursuant to Joint Rule 56.
- Bill type
- bill
- Last updated
- —
Subjects
Sponsors
- Nielloauthor
Committees
Not provided by source.
Action timeline
2025-02-21
Introduced. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print.
introduction,referral-committee
2025-02-24
Read first time.
reading-1
2025-02-24
From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 24.
2025-03-05
Referred to Com. on G.O.
referral-committee
2025-03-07
Set for hearing March 25.
2025-03-25
From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 13. Noes 0. Page 531.) (March 25). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable,referral-committee
2025-03-28
Set for hearing April 7.
2025-04-02
From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
amendment-passage,committee-passage,reading-1,reading-2,referral-committee
2025-04-07
April 7 hearing: Placed on APPR. suspense file.
2025-05-16
Set for hearing May 23.
2025-05-23
May 23 hearing: Held in committee and under submission.
2026-02-02
Returned to Secretary of Senate pursuant to Joint Rule 56.
failure
Versions
Documents
- application/pdf
- application/pdf
- text/html
- application/pdf(no extracted text yet)
- application/pdf(no extracted text yet)
Votes
Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations]
2025-03-25 · pass · 13-0
Member-level votes (15)
- Richardson: yes
- Padilla: yes
- Ochoa Bogh: yes
- Weber Pierson: yes
- Blakespear: yes
- Hurtado: yes
- Ashby: yes
- Jones: yes
- Rubio: yes
- Cervantes: yes
- Valladares: yes
- Archuleta: yes
- Wahab: yes
- Dahle: other
- Smallwood-Cuevas: other
Placed on suspense file
2025-04-07 · pass · 7-0
Member-level votes (7)
- Richardson: yes
- Cabaldon: yes
- Grayson: yes
- Caballero: yes
- Seyarto: yes
- Wahab: yes
- Dahle: yes
Related bills
No related bills recorded for this bill.
Official source
Attribution
Data from openstates_bulk_csv, retrieved 2026-07-24T01:34:27.960412Z
Inspect retained evidence for changes recorded after evidence tracking began:
Use this data
Every field on this page is available from the free public API — no key or licence required. Fetch this bill as JSON: GET /api/v1/bills?jurisdiction=CA&identifier=SB 688. See the API docs or the MCP server for AI assistants.
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