Olson Remcho’s Rios Op-Ed: FPPC’s Rule-Making Needs a Dose of Transparency

The Legislature should enact legislation to require the FPPC to fully comply with APA

California State Seal Sacramanto, California, Usa

Olson Remcho’s Richard Rios and Chris Micheli, an attorney and lobbyist with the governmental relations firm of Aprea & Micheli, co-authored an opinion piece in Capitol Weekly on March 3, 2022, FPPC’s rule-making needs a dose of transparency.  

According to the op-ed:

The Legislature should require the FPPC to adopt rules, regulations, . . . to comply with modern standards of transparency.

“The Legislature should enact legislation to require the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) to fully comply with the current California Administrative Procedure Act (APA).

While the FPPC takes the position that it is only bound by the version of the APA that was in existing in 1974 (when the FPPC was created by the voters in their adoption of Proposition 9 that also enacted the Political Reform Act), we believe the FPPC should be bound by the current version of the APA.

The FPPC, after all, is focused on transparency in the political and election processes. However, without compliance with the entire APA, the FPPC’s rulemaking procedures are not conforming with contemporary standards that most other state agencies and departments follow.”

Read the entire article here.