Click HERE to listen to Senator Strickland’s bill presentation on SB 885
California Senate Democrats on the Senate Governmental Organization Committee refused to pass Senate Bill 885, authored by Senator Tony Strickland (R-Huntington Beach). This measure is designed to restore accountability, transparency, and oversight to California’s regulatory process by returning final approval of major regulations to the California State Legislature.
Senator Strickland introduced SB 885, also known as the Restoring Accountability Act, after an admission by then chair of the California Air Resources Board, who told lawmakers during an energy oversight hearing in May 2025 that “CARB does not analyze how the clean air rules it sets could impact costs for people across the state.”
“Senate Democrats are all talk and not serious about tackling affordability and accountability,” said Senator Strickland. “The disappointing vote means that members of these unaccountable and unelected boards will continue to make sweeping regulatory changes while allowing Democratic legislators to dodge tough votes.”
Commissioners appointed to CARB and the California Energy Commission are not elected officials, yet they are granted broad authority to adopt regulations that implement quasi-legislative policy and ultimately have a major impact on the lives of everyday Californians.
According to the California Policy Center, CARB is ‘one of the least accountable, least effective, and most costly bureaucracies in the history of California politics.’
Examples of CARB’s unchecked power of major regulatory changes include: the controversial Low Carbon Fuel Standard, which is a major contributor to the state's high gasoline prices, with estimates suggesting compliance costs could add between $0.37 and $.85 per gallon by 2030. This May, CARB is considering major regulatory changes to the Cap-and-Invest program, which could further increase prices at the pump by up to an additional $1 per gallon by 2030.
“As an elected official, I answer directly to the people, but that’s not the case for these political appointees. My legislation puts accountability back where it belongs: with the legislators who are elected by, and answer to, the people of California,” added Senator Strickland.
Senator Strickland’s SB 885 would have reined in CARB and the CEC with two simple, key reforms:
First, the bill would have stopped state agencies and unelected boards from independently adopting major regulations that cost $50 million or more. Instead, after completing the existing regulatory process, agencies would send their proposals to the Legislature.
Second, lawmakers would have to vote to approve, change, or reject those proposals, just like any other bill, ensuring public debate and accountability.
Furthermore, SB 885 would not weaken consumer or environmental protections. Instead, it would strengthen public trust by ensuring that decisions with multi-million-dollar consequences are made by officials who are held responsible by the voters.
The bill included a clause to preserve flexibility in urgent circumstances by exempting emergency regulations.