BILL ANALYSIS Ó
------------------------------------------------------------
|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 493|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|1020 N Street, Suite 524 | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
------------------------------------------------------------
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 493
Author: Padilla (D), et al.
Amended: 6/29/11
Vote: 27 - Urgency
SENATE GOVERNMENTAL ORG. COMMITTEE : 9-3, 3/22/11
AYES: Wright, Calderon, Cannella, Corbett, De León, Evans,
Padilla, Wyland, Yee
NOES: Anderson, Berryhill, Strickland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Hernandez
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 6-2, 5/26/11
AYES: Kehoe, Alquist, Lieu, Pavley, Price, Steinberg
NOES: Walters, Runner
NO VOTE RECORDED: Emmerson
SENATE FLOOR : 35-3, 6/1/11
AYES: Alquist, Blakeslee, Calderon, Cannella, Corbett,
Correa, De León, DeSaulnier, Dutton, Emmerson, Evans,
Fuller, Gaines, Hancock, Harman, Hernandez, Kehoe, La
Malfa, Leno, Lieu, Liu, Lowenthal, Negrete McLeod,
Padilla, Pavley, Price, Rubio, Simitian, Steinberg,
Strickland, Vargas, Wolk, Wright, Wyland, Yee
NOES: Anderson, Huff, Walters
NO VOTE RECORDED: Berryhill, Runner
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 62-12, 7/11/11 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : State surplus property
SOURCE : Author
CONTINUED
SB 493
Page
2
DIGEST : This bill 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.
Assembly Amendments add a provision requiring any nonprofit
organization that obtains a computer from DGS, pursuant to
this article, to use the computer only for operating a
public computer center and to prohibit the
resale of that computer.
ANALYSIS : 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.
This bill revises the DGS's 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.
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;
CONTINUED
SB 493
Page
3
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.
Background
According to DGS, which oversees the disposal of surplus
state property, approximately 80 percent of all surplus
state computers go to electronic waste and approximately 20
percent 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.
CONTINUED
SB 493
Page
4
According to the author's office, 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."
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
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 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.
SUPPORT : (Verified 7/12/11)
California Broadband Policy Network
California Communications Association
California Emerging Technology Fund
California State Library
Computers for Youth
EmpowerNet
ReliaTech
Smart Riverside
CONTINUED
SB 493
Page
5
The Stride Center
Youth Policy Institute
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the California
Broadband Policy Network, "The Legislature has long
recognized the important role that community-based
organizations play in working to close the digital divide
through programs such as the California Teleconnect Fund,
the Digital Divide Account, and SB 909 (Bowen), Chapter
870, Statutes of 2006, which provided funding to support
the costs of installation of high-speed broadband services
to public computing centers. With this bill, many
community-based organizations would have an opportunity and
could afford to expand their program's capacity or even
make needed technology upgrades, such as switching to flat
screen monitors, which would improve the user experience."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 62-12, 7/11/11
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Bill
Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos,
Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Davis, Dickinson, Eng,
Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Galgiani,
Gatto, Gordon, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Roger
Hernández, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jeffries, Lara,
Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Monning, Nielsen, Norby,
Olsen, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Portantino, Skinner,
Smyth, Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Valadao, Wieckowski,
Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez
NOES: Donnelly, Beth Gaines, Garrick, Grove, Halderman,
Jones, Knight, Logue, Miller, Morrell, Silva, Wagner
NO VOTE RECORDED: Beall, Cook, Gorell, Mansoor, Mitchell,
Nestande
PQ:kc 7/13/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
**** END ****
CONTINUED
SB 493
Page
6
CONTINUED