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SACRAMENTO -Assemblyman Roger Niello (R-Fair Oaks) announced today that he has introduced legislation to ensure that the regulatory rulemaking process focuses on performance standards.  The bill would require the Office of Administrative Law to provide justification for technology-specific regulations.AB 2738 seeks to further promote rulemaking based on performance standards by establishing it as a preferred alternative to technology-specific regulations and requiring agencies to justify a...
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SACRAMENTO- Assemblyman Roger Niello (R-Fair Oaks) has authored legislation to reduce partisan bias on ballot initiative titles and summaries. Unfortunately, ballot titles and summaries can be deceptive and misleading to voters.  AB 1968 will address this problem by transferring responsibility for authorship from the partisan Attorney General to the non-partisan Legislative Analyst's Office. This measure was defeated last year in the form of AB 319, in Assembly Elections...
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SACRAMENTO - Assemblyman Roger Niello (R-Fair Oaks) honored Marcy Friedman as the 2009 Woman of the Year for the 5th Assembly District during a special Assembly ceremony at the State Capitol on Monday."Marcy Friedman has been a pillar of the Sacramento community for many years.  Her current involvement in the project to expand the Crocker Art Museum is remarkable and will put Sacramento on the map as a community with a world-class art museum," said Assemblyman Niello.  A long-time...
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(SACRAMENTO) - Senator Dave Cox, R-Fair Oaks, and Assemblyman Roger Niello, R-Fair Oaks, held a hearing Tuesday in Rancho Cordova to listen to business owners who are seeking relief from California's burdensome business regulations. Representatives from large and small businesses participated in the hearing to express their frustration over the costly and overlapping regulations.Earlier this year, an academic study concluded that the cost of regulation on California businesses is nearly $500...
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SACRAMENTO - Assemblyman Roger Niello today issued the following statement regarding the announced actions by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) that there will be no enforcement of the off-road diesel equipment regulations set to go into effect on March 1."I am encouraged that CARB has decided to take this action.  California's economy is struggling to recover and the lack of construction activity has led to a dramatic decrease in diesel particulate matter anyway. It would have made...
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SACRAMENTO -Assemblyman Roger Niello (R-Fair Oaks) announced today that he has re-introduced legislation to help ease the tax burden of California families who have negotiated a short sale or been assisted with a loan modification. When a lender has forgiven a portion of a homeowner's principal mortgage indebtedness, as in a short sale or loan modification situation, the amount of forgiven debt is considered taxable income under California state tax law.  While the Congress has exempted...
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SACRAMENTO - Assemblyman Roger Niello (R- Fair Oaks) issued the following statement today regarding Governor Schwarzenegger's final State of the State address. "The Governor laid out an agenda of reform that is sorely needed for California. And with an optimistic eye toward the future, he recognized the immediate pain that we will have to endure to address our budgetary challenges this year." "Opportunities for reform exist in times like these. The Governor seems to agree and as I have...
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Following today's Business Regulation hearing in Citrus Heights, Assemblyman Niello joined Eric Hogue on the "Capitol Hour" radio show on KTKZ to discuss the event and some of the Assemblyman Niello's initial thoughts following the second day of hearings.  That audio can be found ... more

SACRAMENTO - Assemblyman Roger Niello (R-Fair Oaks) today testified at the California Air Resource Board hearing to consider the implementation of the truck and bus regulations relative to diesel emissions. Last year, the Board approved strict regulations to reduce emissions of diesel particulate matter, oxides of nitrogen, and greenhouse gases from in-use diesel trucks and buses that operate in California. This regulation establishes requirements for in-state and out-of-state motor carriers,...
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SACRAMENTO - Assemblyman Roger Niello (R-Fair Oaks) and Senator Dave Cox (R-Fair Oaks) announced today that they will be hosting a series of legislative hearings on the impact of regulations on local businesses. In the wake of a study released earlier this year that concluded that the cost of regulation on California businesses is nearly $500 billion annually, and with unemployment at record high levels, the overregulation of businesses is likely one primary cause of the state's lagging...
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SACRAMENTO - Assemblyman Roger Niello (R-Fair Oaks) has presented a resolution to the organizers of this year's "Toys for the Troops' Kids" Christmas Toy Drive in an event at the Capitol to kick off this year's Christmas Toy drive for the children of military personnel deployed during Christmas, or who were killed in action since 9/11/2009. "I am proud to present this resolution to the Toys for the Troops' Kids organizers, in honor of the outstanding contributions they have made to the...
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SACRAMENTO - Assemblyman Roger Niello (R-Fair Oaks) this morning issued the following statement regarding passage in the Assembly of the comprehensive water package. "Certainly, California has water challenges and the health of the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta is at risk. Unfortunately, the package of legislation that was put together was one that I could not support. Water-challenged Southern California can use the assistance from the water-rich areas of Northern California and that...
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SACRAMENTO - Assemblyman Roger Niello (R-Fair Oaks), will again be hosting a free workshop for non-profit organizations to learn about fundraising and grant writing. "My first workshop on fundraising and grant writing for non-profit organizations was such a huge success that I was determined to organize an additional event. Non-profit organizations have been struggling during the recession and many have seen the needs of the community grow during these troubled economic times. Many...
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SACRAMENTO - Governor Schwarzenegger this week signed into law four measures by Assemblyman Niello (R-Fair Oaks). Among them is an important measure to reform the State's unclaimed property procedures which have a tendency to overreach. AB 645: Professional Engineer and Land Surveyor Licensing AB 645 extends the renewal period for licenses issued by the Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors (BPELS) from every two years to every four years and resolves the unnecessary duplication...
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SACRAMENTO - Assemblyman Roger Niello (R- Fair Oaks) joined Assembly colleagues and representatives from the business community today to discuss new study by Sacramento State professor Sanjay Varshney that suggests the cost of regulations on businesses to be $492 billion per year. The independent study was called for in legislation (AB 2330 of 2006) which was approved on a bipartisan basis. The study arrived at the massive dollar figure as the total cost of regulation to California's...

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SACRAMENTO - Assemblyman Roger Niello has led a bi-partisan group of legislators to send a letter to the California Air Resources Board (CARB) requesting a temporary suspension of on and off-road diesel regulations that have taken effect within the last year. In all, 52 members of the legislature including both Republicans and Democrats have signed a letter that acknowledges the need to reduce particulate matter, but expresses concern that these regulations will have a further devastating...
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SACRAMENTO - The California Legislature has this week unanimously approved legislation by Assemblyman Roger Niello (R-Fair Oaks), AB 1120, that directs the State Architect to communicate the cost-savings benefits of constructability reviews for school construction projects. Constructability reviews require an independent third party to review construction plans prior to the bid process to ensure that they are complete. Often, there can be unforeseen problems or conflicts that arise between...
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SACRAMENTO - While a two-house conference committee on water continues to meet in the legislature, Assemblyman Roger Niello (R-Fair Oaks) has led the effort to remind Senate President Pro-Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) of the Sacramento Region's unique water needs. Senator Steinberg chairs the Joint Water Conference Committee that is currently considering water issues including surface storage, conservation, and around delta conveyance. As the letter points out, the "legislation that...
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SACRAMENTO- The California Chamber of Commerce recently commended Assemblyman Roger Niello (R-Fair Oaks) for his unwavering support of California businesses when they released their voting scorecard for the current legislative session. Assemblyman Niello received a perfect score from the Cal Chamber for his votes in the legislature in support of maintaining a healthy business environment. The California Chamber of Commerce publishes the vote record periodically in response to numerous...
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SACRAMENTO - Assemblyman Roger Niello (R-Fair Oaks) voted this afternoon during a marathon 20-hour session to support some elements of a 2009 Budget reduction package that will reduce our current level of spending, stop the issuance of IOU's, and alleviate our current $26 billion budget crisis, while adopting additional government reforms that change the way we operate state government. "There were many positives to be found in this budget reduction package. We significantly reduced the size...
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