Bureau begins 2022 sunset-review work and asks council for issues, highlights outreach and labeling

Policy Manager Yafana Lamar told the advisory council the bureau is preparing its 2022 sunset-review report to the Legislature and solicited input on issues that should be included in the statutory review.

Lamar said the bureau is drafting responses to the legislature’s questionnaire and validating four years of data. The bureau plans to submit its report to the Department of Consumer Affairs’ division of legislative affairs, the Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency and the governor’s office before the Dec. 1 statutory deadline. A joint legislative hearing is expected in late February or early March 2022.

Lamar asked council members to identify issues that could become legislative proposals or that the bureau should document progress on since the last sunset review in 2018. Council members suggested outreach to consumers and industry as a priority and urged the bureau to consider revisiting label-percentage requirements (the “percentage law label” issue referenced from prior sunset work). Advisory member Bert Grimes said, “We need to really improve our consumer outreach program,” citing examples such as telling consumers that movers and in-home electronic repairers must be licensed.

Lamar said outreach will also be part of the bureau’s strategic-plan process and agreed to look for ways to include outreach progress in the sunset materials. Council members also proposed examining the bureau’s licensing-term structure for home furnishings (biennial vs. annual renewals) as a potential sunset issue.

Why it matters: Sunset reports and hearings shape legislative oversight and can prompt statutory changes. The bureau’s choices of topics for the sunset package — including outreach, labeling and licensing-term changes — could lead to law or budget changes after the joint committee’s review.