Quasi-Legislative Power Law and Legal Definition
Quasi-legislative power means the administrative agency’s power to engage in rule making. For example, the act of changing boundaries of a political subdivision is an exercise of quasi-legislative power. Specifically, the formation of school districts and the adjustment of district boundaries is an exercise of quasi-legislative power delegated by statute to, and administered by, the county committees.
In general, the legislature cannot delegate its essential lawmaking powers to any other department. However, it may delegate quasi-legislative powers to an administrative agency to carry out legislative objectives, provided that the delegation has sufficient guidelines.
In City of Santa Cruz v. Local Agency Formation Com., 76 Cal. App. 3d 381 (Cal. Ct. App. 1978), the court observed that “Where an administrative agency exercises quasi-legislative powers, the judicial review of such action made by the trial court must be made under ordinary mandamus, and not under administrative mandamus.”
