BILL NUMBER: AB 2062 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 25, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 24, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Davis
FEBRUARY 23, 2012
An act to add Section 87500.2 to the Government Code, relating to
the Political Reform Act of 1974, and declaring the urgency thereof,
to take effect immediately.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2062, as amended, Davis. Political Reform Act of 1974:
statements of economic interests: electronic filing.
Existing law establishes, until December 31, 2012, a pilot program
authorizing specified local government agencies to develop and
implement a system for the electronic filing of statements of
economic interests by certain public officials, as specified.
This bill would authorize all agencies to permit the electronic
filing of a statement of economic interests, in accordance with
regulations adopted by the Fair Political Practices Commission. The
bill would require the Commission to approve and certify an
electronic filing system proposed by an agency , upon payment by
the agency of a fee of $1,000 to the Commission, if the system
meets prescribed requirements. The bill would also authorize the
Commission to conduct discretionary audits of an agency's electronic
filing system to evaluate its performance and compliance with the
requirements of this bill. The bill would require the Commission to
accept electronic copies of statements of economic interests
forwarded to it by an agency that has received an electronically
filed statement from filers.
The bill would authorize a city or county that developed an
electronic filing system pursuant to the pilot program to continue to
use that system during the time it takes the Commission to adopt the
regulations to govern the electronic filing system program, but
would require the city or county to submit a description of its
electronic filing system to the Commission for approval and
certification after the Commission's regulations take effect, as
specified.
Existing law makes a knowing or willful violation of the Political
Reform Act of 1974 a misdemeanor and subjects offenders to criminal
penalties.
By creating additional crimes, this bill would impose a
state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
The Political Reform Act of 1974, an initiative measure, provides
that the Legislature may amend the act to further the act's purposes
upon a 2/3 vote of each house and compliance with specified
procedural requirements.
This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the act.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as
an urgency statute.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 87500.2 is added to the Government Code, to
read:
87500.2. (a) An agency may permit the electronic filing of a
statement of economic interests required by Article 2 (commencing
with Section 87200) or Article 3 (commencing with Section 87300),
including amendments, in accordance with regulations adopted by the
Commission.
(b) In consultation with interested agencies, the Commission shall
use common database integration features in developing database
design requirements for all electronic filings that may be used.
(c) (1) An agency that intends to permit electronic filing of a
statement of economic interests shall submit a proposal, which shall
include a description of the electronic filing system that the agency
proposes to use, along with a fee of one thousand dollars
($1,000) , to the Commission for approval and
certification.
(2) An agency shall not charge a person to electronically
file a statement of economic interests.
(3) The Commission shall review an agency's
proposal for compliance with the system requirement regulations
adopted pursuant to subdivisions (a) and (b) and the requirements of
subdivision (d). If the proposed system complies with these
requirements, the Commission shall approve and certify the agency's
electronic filing system as soon as practicable after receiving the
agency's submitted proposal.
(d) An agency's proposed electronic filing system shall meet the
following requirements:
(1) A statement of economic interests filed electronically shall
include an electronic transmission that is submitted under penalty of
perjury and that conforms to subdivision (b) of Section 1633.11 of
the Civil Code.
(2) (A) The agency's filing officer shall issue to a person who
electronically files his or her statement of economic interests or
amendment an electronic confirmation that notifies the filer that his
or her statement of economic interests or amendment was received.
The confirmation shall include the date and the time that the
statement of economic interests or amendment was received by the
filing officer and the method by which the filer may view and print
the data received by the filing officer.
(B) A copy retained by the filer of a statement of economic
interests or amendment that was electronically filed and the
confirmation issued pursuant to subparagraph (A) that shows that the
filer timely filed his or her statement of economic interests or
amendment shall create a rebuttable presumption that the filer timely
filed his or her statement of economic interests or amendment.
(3) The agency shall utilize an electronic filing system that
includes layered security to ensure data integrity. The system shall
have the capability to uniquely identify a filer electronically when
he or she accesses the electronic filing system. The operational
process for the system shall include industry best practices to
ensure that the security and integrity of the data and information
contained in the statement of economic interests are not jeopardized
or compromised.
(4) The agency shall provide the public with a copy of an official'
s statement of economic interests upon request, in accordance with
Section 81008. The copy of the electronically filed statement of
economic interests shall be identical to the statement of economic
interests published by the Commission and shall include the date that
the statement was filed.
(e) The Commission may adopt regulations to require that an agency
redact information on a statement of economic interests prior to
posting the statement of economic interests on the Internet.
(f) The Commission may conduct discretionary audits of an agency's
approved and certified electronic filing system to evaluate its
performance and compliance with the requirements of this section.
(g) The Commission shall accept an electronic copy of a statement
of economic interests that is forwarded to it by an agency that has
received an electronically filed statement from a filer pursuant to
this section.
(h) A city or county that developed an electronic filing system
pursuant to the pilot program established by Section 87500.1 may
continue to use that system for purposes of this section, including,
but not limited to, the time during which the Commission is adopting
the regulations required by this section. However, after the
Commission's regulations take effect, the city or county shall submit
a description of its electronic filing system to the Commission for
approval and certification, within a reasonable time to be determined
by the Commission. A city or county shall not continue to use an
electronic filing system originally developed for purposes of Section
87500.1 if the Commission does not approve and certify that
electronic filing system as complying with the requirements of the
Commission's regulations and the other requirements of this section.
SEC. 2. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.
SEC. 3. The Legislature finds and declares that this bill furthers
the purposes of the Political Reform Act of 1974 within the meaning
of subdivision (a) of Section 81012 of the Government Code.
SEC. 4. This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the
meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate
effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
In order to allow the Fair Political Practices Commission time to
develop regulations and procedures critical to the implementation of
a system for the electronic filing of statements of economic
interests prior to the 2013 filing period, which will allow state and
local agencies to achieve significant savings, and to allow the city
and county agencies that participated in the pilot program to
continue using electronic filing while the Commission develops the
necessary regulations in order to preserve the substantial investment
those agencies have already made in developing electronic filing
systems, it is necessary that this act take immediate effect.