BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB
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SENATE THIRD READING
SB 493 (Padilla)
As Amended June 29, 2011
2/3 vote. Urgency
SENATE VOTE :35-3
BUSINESS & PROFESSIONS 9-0 APPROPRIATIONS 15-1
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|Ayes:|Hayashi, Bill Berryhill, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Harkey, |
| |Allen, Butler, | |Blumenfield, Bradford, |
| |Eng, Hagman, Hill, Ma, | |Charles Calderon, Campos, |
| |Smyth | |Donnelly, Gatto, Hall, |
| | | |Hill, Lara, Mitchell, |
| | | |Nielsen, Norby, Solorio |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | |Nays:|Wagner |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Revises the Department of General Services' (DGS)
policy on surplus computers to allow state agencies to sell
surplus computers at less than fair market value to nonprofits
partnering with a school district to operate a public computer
center, before the computers are put out to bid or otherwise
disposed of. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires that DGS's policies and procedures on the disposition
of state surplus computers, laptops, monitors, and related
computer equipment do all of the following:
a) Bridge the digital divide by encouraging expanded access
to state-of-the-art technologies for rural, inner-city,
low-income, and disabled Californians;
b) Authorize nonprofits partnering with a school district
to operate a public computer center, to be eligible to
purchase state surplus computers directly from a state
agency, and authorizes DGS to sell those computers below
fair market value if DGS determines it is in the state's
best interests;
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c) Include a procedure for state agencies with surplus
computers to ascertain whether eligible nonprofits are
interested in receiving surplus computers, with a
preference to nonprofits located within the same geographic
region as the state agency in order to minimize
transportation and disposition costs;
d) Require the state agency to certify that all
confidential, sensitive, and personal information was
removed from computers prior to disposition; and,
e) Require any nonprofit that obtains a computer from DGS
pursuant to this bill, to use the computer only for
operating a public computer center and to prohibit the
resale of that computer.
2)Requires DGS, in collaboration with the California Technology
Agency, promote awareness among state agencies to remove all
confidential, sensitive, and personal information be removed
from state surplus computers prior to disposition.
3)Declares that this bill shall take effect immediately as an
urgency measure.
EXISTING LAW authorizes DGS to offer the first rights of refusal
for appropriate state surplus personal property to school
districts for less than fair market value prior to offering that
property to the public.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
1)DGS would incur one-time special fund costs of about $75,000
for the equivalent of one position to establish and implement
the revised policies and procedures and ongoing costs of about
$40,000 for these activities. (Service Revolving Fund)
2)Minor annual revenue loss to the extent computers and related
equipment are sold to nonprofits at less than fair market
value, (Service Revolving Fund). In the two most recent
auctions conducted by DGS (January and May 2011), 700
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computers sold at an average cost of $44 and 70 laptops sold
at an average cost of $123. DGS indicates few schools
exercise their statutory authority to obtain state computers
at less than fair market value, probably because the state
computers are old and the hard drives have been wiped clean
and are no longer equipped with any software.
COMMENTS : According to the author, "This bill seeks to find a
feasible, cost-effective means of matching public computer
centers working to close the digital divide with surplus state
computers that would otherwise go to electronic waste."
According to DGS, which oversees the disposal of surplus state
property, approximately 80% of all surplus state computers go to
electronic waste and approximately 20% are transported to the
Sacramento DGS warehouse for sale at a public auction. The
majority of state surplus computers go to electronic waste
because it is more costly to transport computers to the DGS
warehouse for sale compared to having an electronic waste
recycler pick up the computers for free, and because auction
proceeds are retained by DGS. DGS does not maintain an
inventory of surplus computers after they are sold or disposed
of. Existing law already authorizes a school district to
acquire computers below fair market value prior to an auction,
including for a nonprofit it partners with to operate a public
computer center. DGS is currently updating its October 2007
management memo on the removal of confidential, sensitive or
personal information from state-owned surplus personal property
and state-owned surplus vehicles.
According to the author, five nonprofits were awarded federal
grants for public computer centers that offer Internet broadband
access to low-income and other populations least likely to have
their own computer and Internet service. The author states,
"For many program participants, a public computer center is the
only option to access online education and training, and (to
apply) for jobs. These nonprofits, many of which are in
partnership with a school district, are constantly looking to
purchase the least expensive computers, including surplus
computers from public and private organizations."
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Analysis Prepared by : Joanna Gin / B.,P. & C.P. / (916)
319-3301
FN: 0001534