BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                      



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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                  AB 2062|
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                                 THIRD READING


          Bill No:  AB 2062
          Author:   Davis (D)
          Amended:  5/25/12 in Assembly
          Vote:     27 - Urgency

           
           SENATE ELECTIONS & CONST. AMEND. COMM.  :  5-0, 07/03/12
          AYES:  Correa, La Malfa, Gaines, Lieu, Yee

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE  :  7-0, 8/6/12
          AYES: Kehoe, Walters, Alquist, Dutton, Lieu, Price, 
            Steinberg

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  70-0, 6/11/12 - See last page for vote


           SUBJECT  :    Political Reform Act of 1974:  statements of 
          economic 
                      interest

           SOURCE  :     California Association of Clerks of Election 
          Officials


           DIGEST  :    This bill allows an agency to permit the 
          electronic filing of a statement of economic interests 
          (SEI), in accordance with regulations adopted by the Fair 
          Political Practices Commission (FPPC).

           ANALYSIS  :    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 
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          by certain public officials, as specified.

          This bill: 

          1. Authorizes an agency to permit the electronic filing of 
             an SEI, including amendments, in accordance with 
             regulations adopted by the FPPC. 

          2. Requires the FPPC, in consultation with interested 
             agencies, to use common database integration features in 
             developing database design requirements for all 
             electronic filings. 

          3. Requires an agency which intends to permit electronic 
             filing of SEIs to submit a proposal along with a $1,000 
             filing fee to the FPPC for approval and certification.  
             Prohibits an agency from recovering the costs of the 
             filing fee by charging a person to electronically file 
             an SEI. 

          4. Requires the FPPC to review an agency's proposal for 
             compliance with the system requirement regulations 
             adopted as required by this bill. Requires the FPPC to 
             approve and certify the agency's filing system as soon 
             as practicable after receiving the agency's submitted 
             proposal if the system complies with the regulations. 

          5. Requires an agency's proposed electronic filing system 
             to meet certain requirements, as specified. 

          6. Permits the FPPC to adopt regulations to require an 
             agency to redact information on an SEI prior to posting 
             it on the Internet. 

          7. Permits the FPPC to conduct discretionary audits of an 
             agency's approved and certified electronic filing system 
             to evaluate its performance. 

          8. Requires the FPPC to accept an electronic copy of an SEI 
             that is forwarded to it by an agency that has received 
             an electronically filed statement from a filer as 
             provided for under this bill. 

          9. Permits a city or county, which developed an electronic 







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             filing system pursuant to a specified pilot program 
             established in law, to continue to use that system for 
             purposes of this bill, including, but not limited to, 
             the time during which the FPPC is adopting regulations 
             as required by this bill.  Requires the city or county, 
             after the FPPC's regulations take effect, to submit a 
             description of its electronic filing system for approval 
             and certification within a reasonable time as determined 
             by the FPPC.  Prohibits a city or county from continuing 
             to use an electronic filing system originally developed 
             pursuant to law if the FPPC does not approve and certify 
             that electronic filing system. 

          10.Contains an urgency clause, allowing this bill to take 
             effect immediately upon enactment. 

           Background
           
          In 2009, a pilot project was established which permitted 
          participating governmental entities to accept electronic 
          filing of an SEI in accordance with regulations adopted by 
          the FPPC. As required by law, participants in the pilot 
          project were required to submit reports to the FPPC and the 
          FPPC was required to forward the reports and provide 
          additional comments to the Legislative Analyst's Office 
          (LAO).  Additionally, the LAO was required to submit a 
          report to the Legislature evaluating the pilot project 
          earlier this year. 

          According to the LAO report, the participating government 
          entities indicated that the paper-based filing process was 
          time-consuming and required significant amounts of staff 
          time to review the SEIs, work with the filers to correct 
          errors and maintain the paper file systems.  However, after 
          implementing the electronic filing system, participating 
          entities found that that electronic filing resulted in 
          operational efficiencies through reduced personnel due to 
          the significant reduction in the number of errors in the 
          filers' SEIs and other operational costs.  Additionally, it 
          was reported to the LAO that none of government entities 
          reported any security issues with the electronic filing 
          systems and found that most of the public officials and 
          employees who filed using the electronic filing system 
          considered it to be a useful and an easy process. 







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          As a result of these findings, the LAO made the following 
          recommendations:  (1) the Legislature should allow 
          participating entities to continue electronic filing on an 
          ongoing basis; (2) the Legislature should consider giving 
          all governments the option to establish an electronic 
          filing system; and (3) the Legislature should authorize the 
          FPPC to establish any guidelines and specifications to be 
          followed by the government entities when developing and 
          using the electronic filing systems.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  Yes   
          Local:  Yes

          According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, the FPPC 
          indicates annual costs of approximately $150,000, likely 
          offset by fee revenue (General).

          There are thousands of local agencies including counties, 
          cities, special districts and school districts.  If only 
          150 of those agencies elect to use electronic filing and 
          pay the $1,000 fee, all costs to the FPPC will be 
          reimbursed.

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  8/9/12)

          California Association of Clerks of Election Officials 
          (source)
          Common Cause
          Fair Political Practices Commission
          Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  70-0, 6/11/12
          AYES:  Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, 
            Bill Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford, 
            Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Campos, Carter, Chesbro, 
            Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eng, Feuer, 
            Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Beth Gaines, Galgiani, 
            Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Gorell, Grove, Hagman, Hall, 
            Harkey, Hayashi, Roger Hernández, Hill, Hueso, Huffman, 
            Jeffries, Knight, Lara, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, 
            Mendoza, Miller, Mitchell, Nestande, Nielsen, Norby, 
            Olsen, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Portantino, Silva, 
            Skinner, Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Valadao, Wieckowski, 







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            Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Charles Calderon, Cedillo, Halderman, 
            Huber, Jones, Mansoor, Monning, Morrell, Smyth, Wagner


          DLW:d  8/9/12   Senate Floor Analyses 

                         SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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