BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  SCR 54
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   August 30, 2013

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                  Mike Gatto, Chair

                  SCR 54 (Padilla) - As Introduced:  June 24, 2013 

          Policy Committee:                             JudiciaryVote:10-0  
          (Consent)

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:               

           SUMMARY  

          This measure requires the California Law Revision Commission  
          (CLRC) to report to the Legislature recommendations to revise  
          statutes governing access by state and local government agencies  
          to customer information from communications service providers,  
          with the intent of:

          a)Updating statutes to reflect 21st Century mobile and  
            Internet-based technologies.

          b)Protecting customers' constitutional rights, including, but  
            not limited to, rights to privacy, free speech, and freedom  
            from unlawful searches and seizures.

          c)Enabling state and local government agencies to protect public  
            safety.

          d)Clarifying the process communications service providers are  
            required to follow in response to requests from state and  
            local agencies for customer information or in order to take  
            action that would affect a customer's service.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Absorbable costs to the CLRC, which establishes its priorities,  
          within budgeted resources, among the topics it is directed to  
          study by the Legislature. For 2013-14, the commission's budget  
          totals $681,000 and includes five positions.

           COMMENTS  









                                                                  SCR 54
                                                                  Page  2

           1)Purpose  . Several provisions of current law, distributed  
            throughout the California Codes, address specific instances in  
            which a state or local agency may request information from a  
            service provider, but according to the author these provisions  
            lack clear and consistent standards. The author also contends  
            these often dated statutory provisions do not always take into  
            account online and mobile technology.

           2)The CLRC  was created in 1953 and was given the responsibility  
            to substantively review California's statutory and case law.  
            The commission seeks to discover deficiencies in existing law  
            and makes related recommendations to the Legislature for  
            needed reforms. The commission may only study matters referred  
            to it by concurrent resolution of the Legislature. The most  
            recent resolution (ACR 98, Wagner of 2012) authorized the  
            commission to undertake or continue study of 22 specific  
            topics.
           Analysis Prepared by  :    Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081