California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 1365

Introduced by Assembly Member John A. Pérez

February 22, 2013

An act to amend Sections 9795 and 10242.5 of the Government Code, relating to agency reports.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1365, as introduced, John A. Pérez. State and local agency reports: submission to Legislative Counsel.

Existing law requires the Legislative Counsel to annually prepare, publish, and maintain an electronic list of all reports that state and local agencies are required or requested by law to prepare and file with the Governor or the Legislature. Existing law requires state and local agencies to file a printed copy of these reports with the Legislative Counsel.

This bill would authorize state and local agencies to file these reports with the Legislative Counsel electronically.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section 9795 of the Government Code is amended
to read:

9795.  

(a) (1) Any report required or requested by law to be
submitted by a state or local agency to the Members of either house
of the Legislature generally, shall instead be submitted as a printed
copy to begin delete both the Legislative Counsel and end delete the Secretary of the
Senate, begin delete and end delete as an electronic copy to the Chief Clerk of the
Assembly begin insert , and as an electronic or printed copy to the Legislative
Counsel end insert . Each report shall include a summary of its contents, not
to exceed one page in length. If the report is submitted by a state
agency, that agency shall also provide an electronic copy of the
summary directly to each member of the appropriate house or
houses of the Legislature. Notice of receipt of the report shall also
be recorded in the journal of the appropriate house or houses of
the Legislature by the secretary or clerk of that house.

(2) In addition to and as part of the information made available
to the public in electronic form pursuant to Section 10248, the
Legislative Counsel shall make available a list of the reports
submitted by state and local agencies, as specified in paragraph
(1). If the Legislative Counsel receives a request from a member
of the public for a report contained in the list, the Legislative
Counsel is not required to provide a copy of the report and may
refer the requester to the state or local agency, as the case may be,
that authored the report, or to the California State Library as the
final repository of public information.

(b) No report shall be distributed to a Member of the Legislature
unless specifically requested by that member.

(c) Compliance with subdivision (a) shall be deemed to be full
compliance with subdivision (c) of Section 10242.5.

(d) A state agency report and summary subject to this section
shall include an Internet Web site where the report can be
downloaded and telephone number to call to order a hard copy of
the report. A report submitted by a state agency subject to this
section shall also be posted at the agency’s Internet Web site.

(e) For purposes of this section, “report” includes any study or
audit.

SEC. 2.  

Section 10242.5 of the Government Code is amended
to read:

10242.5.  

(a) The Legislative Counsel shall annually prepare,
publish, and maintain an electronic list of all reports that state and
local agencies are required or requested by law to prepare and file
with the Governor or the Legislature, or both, in the future or within
the preceding year. The list shall include all of the following
information:

(1) The name of the agency that is required or requested to
prepare and file the report.

(2) A brief description of the subject of the report.

(3) The date on which the report is to be completed and filed.

(4) The date on which the report was completed and filed.

(b) Each list by the Legislative Counsel prepared pursuant to
subdivision (a) shall be sent to each Member of the Legislature
and shall be available to the public. The Legislative Counsel may
charge a member of the public a fee that does not exceed the direct
cost of printing the list.

(c) Each state and local agency that is required or requested by
law to prepare a report described in subdivision (a) shall file a
printed begin insert or electronic end insert copy of the report with the Legislative
Counsel.

(d) As used in this section:

(1) “Agency” includes any city, county, special district,
department, board, bureau, or commission, including any task
force or other similar body that is created by statute or resolution.
“Agency” does not include the University of California.

(2) “Report” includes any study or audit.

(e) (1) The Legislative Counsel shall update the list required
by subdivision (a) by removing obsolete or duplicate reports from
the list. The Legislative Counsel shall also remove reports from
the list as directed by Section 4 of begin delete the act adding this subdivision end delete
begin insert Chapter 7 of the Statutes of 2010 end insert , or a subsequent statute that
further requires the Legislative Counsel to remove reports included
in the list.

(2) For purposes of this subdivision, “obsolete report” means a
report that has not been completed and filed and for which the date
that the report was required to be completed and filed was four or
more years after the initial report is submitted.