BILL ANALYSIS Ó
Bill No: AB
1365
SENATE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION
Senator Roderick D. Wright, Chair
2013-2014 Regular Session
Staff Analysis
AB 1365 Author: John A. Perez
As Amended: April 24, 2013
Hearing Date: June 25, 2013
Consultant: Art Terzakis
SUBJECT
State and Local Agency Reports: Legislative Counsel
DESCRIPTION
AB 1365 makes the following substantive and clarifying
changes to existing provisions of law relating to reports
filed by state and local agencies with the Legislative
Counsel as well as provisions pertaining to the requirement
that the Legislative Counsel prepare and maintain an
electronic list of all reports. Specifically, this
measure:
1)Requires state and local agencies to file mandated
reports with the Legislative Counsel electronically
instead of as a printed copy.
2)Clarifies that the Legislative Counsel's list of agency
reports must include information regarding the date on
which the report was "filed" rather than requiring both a
"completion" and "filing" date of the report.
3)Stipulates that if an electronic copy of a report is
filed, and the report is posted on an Internet Web site,
the agency filing the electronic copy must provide the
Legislative Counsel a hyperlink whereby the report may be
accessed.
4)Also, requires the Legislative Counsel to include on the
Internet Web site it maintains any hyperlinks provided by
state and local agencies relative to the reports.
AB 1365 (John A. Perez) continued
Page 2
5)Eliminates the requirement that the Legislative Counsel
delete "obsolete" reports from the list of agency
reports. Also, deletes the definition of "obsolete
report."
6)Eliminates the requirement that the Legislative Counsel
provide the list to each Member of the Legislature and
instead requires the Legislative Counsel to annually
provide each Member of the Legislature a hyperlink
whereby the list of reports can be accessed.
7)Deletes an existing provision which permits the
Legislative Counsel to charge a member of the public a
fee that does not exceed the direct cost of printing the
list.
EXISTING LAW
Existing law requires or requests various state and local
entities to submit reports on specified topics to the
Legislature, the Governor, or both and directs Legislative
Counsel to 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 this list to include, for each
report, the date on which the report was completed and
filed. Existing law also requires the Legislative Counsel
to update the list of agency reports by removing "obsolete"
reports from the list. Additionally, existing law requires
the Legislative Counsel to make the list available to the
public and to send the list to each Member of the
Legislature. Furthermore, the law requires state and local
agencies to file a printed copy of these reports with the
Legislative Counsel.
Existing law defines "obsolete report" to mean 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.
BACKGROUND
AB 1365 (John A. Perez) continued
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Purpose of AB 1365: According to the author's office, the
intent of this measure is to allow the public to access the
various reports submitted to the Legislature by state
agencies. The author's office contends that with advances
in technology and the transition to paperless government
practices, allowing state and local agencies and
Legislative Counsel to provide electronic copies and links
to reports saves time, money and resources. Additionally,
this measure would eliminate confusion relative to the term
"obsolete report" in existing law by eliminating the
requirement that Legislative Counsel delete obsolete
reports. As noted above, Legislative Counsel is required
to prepare and publish an electronic list, available to the
public, of all reports that state and local agencies are
required by law to file with the Governor or Legislature.
In an attempt to reduce the number of reports being issued
by governments the term "obsolete report" was added to law
allowing Legislative Counsel to remove references to
reports that were more than four years past due. In
reality, it makes no sense to eliminate them from the
Legislative Counsel website which serves as a repository
for information and a means to track completed reports. If
anything, one could argue that the current process for
removing "obsolete reports" from the Legislative Counsel
website results in less transparency by limiting the
public's access to the report information and may impede
government accountability as the reports are still required
by statute unless the originating statute is repealed. AB
1365 addresses this issue by eliminating the above
requirement and deleting the definition of "obsolete
report."
PRIOR/RELATED LEGISLATION
AB 1420 (A. & A.R. Committee) 2013-14 Session. Would
eliminate and modify certain state agencies' reporting
requirements to the Legislature, Governor and other state
agencies in order to address conflicts with certain
provisions of SB 71 (Leno), Chapter 728, Statutes of 2012.
(Pending in this Committee)
SB 71 (Leno), Chapter 728, Statutes of 2012. Among other
things, eliminated the requirement that certain state
agencies submit certain reports to the Legislature and
other state agencies relating to a variety of subjects.
Also, modified various requirements of certain reports by,
AB 1365 (John A. Perez) continued
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among other ways, requiring specified reports be placed on
the Internet Web site of the reporting agency rather than
submitted to the Legislature or other state agencies,
requiring certain agencies to collaborate with other
agencies in preparing specified reports, consolidating
certain reports, deleting the requirement that specified
state agencies make specified information available on
their Internet Web sites, and transferring reporting duties
from one agency to another.
AB 1585 (Huber), Chapter 7, Statutes of 2010. An urgency
measure that deleted hundreds of obsolete reports, as
specified, and revised the procedure for mandatory
reporting requirements by state agencies.
AB 1311 (Duvall), Chapter 284, Statutes of 2009. Repealed
and revised various reporting requirements for the
Department of General Services, State Architect, and Fair
Employment and Housing Commission.
SB 1443 (Oller), 2001-02 Session. Would have required
state or local agency reports or studies to be submitted
electronically to the Legislature or Legislative Counsel
and provided that no state or local agency would be
required to prepare and submit any written report to the
Legislature or the Governor until July 1, 2003. (Held in
Senate Committee on Governmental Organization)
SB 392 (Oller), 2001-02 Session. Would have amended and
deleted several unnecessary and burdensome reporting
requirements that the Secretary of State and many other
agencies must make to the Governor and Legislature each
year. (Returned without signature because it would have
repealed the annual report to the Governor on the progress
of maintenance of State records.)
SB 1191 (Speier), Chapter 745, Statutes of 2001 . Deleted
approximately 400 provisions requiring state and local
agencies to prepare and submit reports deemed to be no
longer relevant or necessary.
AB 116 (Speier), Chapter 970, Statutes of 1996 . Continued
the suspended reporting requirements enacted by AB 2824
(Speier) of 1992.
AB 2824 (Speier), Chapter 710, Statutes of 1992 . Suspended
AB 1365 (John A. Perez) continued
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reporting requirements for three years of some 1,200
reports.
SUPPORT: As of June 21, 2013:
Association of California Water Agencies
East Bay Municipal Utility District
OPPOSE: None on file as of June 21, 2013.
FISCAL COMMITTEE: Senate Appropriations Committee
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