BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson, Chair
2015-2016 Regular Session
ACR 148 (Chau)
Version: May 26, 2016
Hearing Date: June 14, 2016
Fiscal: Yes
Urgency: N/A
ME
SUBJECT
California Law Revision Commission: studies
DESCRIPTION
This measure would authorize the California Law Revision
Commission (CLRC) to continue its studies on whether specified
laws should be revised and would authorize an additional study
of the California Public Records Act (CPRA).
This measure would provide that before commencing work on any
project within the list of topics authorized for study by the
Legislature, the CLRC shall submit a detailed description of the
scope of work to the Senate and Assembly Committees on Judiciary
and any legislative policy committee with jurisdiction over the
study's subject matter.
The measure would also expressly allow the CLRC to provide
copies of its recommendations to members of a legislative policy
committee and invite CLRC staff to hearings for the purpose of
explaining recommendations and answering questions from
committee members.
BACKGROUND
The California Law Revision Commission (CLRC) was created in
1953 and tasked with the responsibility for a continuing
substantive review of California statutory and decisional law.
The CLRC studies the law in order to discover defects and make
related recommendations to the Legislature for needed reforms.
The CLRC's enabling statute recognizes two types of topics the
CLRC is authorized to study: (1) those that the CLRC identifies
for study and lists in the Calendar of Topics that it reports to
the Legislature; and (2) those that the Legislature assigns to
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the CLRC directly, by statute or concurrent resolution. Once
the CLRC identifies a topic for study, it cannot begin to work
on the topic until the Legislature, by concurrent resolution,
authorizes the CLRC to conduct the study. Direct legislative
assignments have become much more common in recent years, and
many of the CLRC's recent studies were directly assigned by the
Legislature.
This measure, sponsored by the CLRC, would continue the
authorization of the CLRC's studies on whether specified laws
should be revised or enacted. This measure would also continue
the direction to the CLRC to provide a detailed description of
any new study to the Chairs and Vice Chairs of the Assembly and
Senate Judiciary Committees and any legislative policy
committees that have jurisdiction over the subject matter of the
study, as well as continue to provide guidance relating to the
distribution of CLRC reports and the appearance of CLRC staff as
witnesses at committee hearings. This measure would also
request the CLRC to examine the California Public Records Act
("CPRA") to determine whether it should be amended in a
non-substantive manner to reduce its length and complexity,
avoid unnecessary cross-references, and eliminate duplicative
provisions.
CHANGES TO EXISTING LAW
Existing law authorizes the California Law Revision Commission
(CLRC) to study topics approved by concurrent resolution of the
Legislature. (Gov. Code Sec. 8293.)
Existing law prohibits an employee or member of the CLRC, with
respect to any proposed legislation concerning matters assigned
to the commission for study, to advocate for the passage or
defeat of the legislation by the Legislature or the approval or
veto of the legislation by the Governor or appear before any
committee of the Legislature unless requested to do so by the
committee or its chairperson. (Gov. Code Sec. 8288.)
Existing law establishes the California Public Records Act
(CPRA). (Gov. Code Sec. 6250 et seq.)
Existing law provides that, under the CPRA, public records are
open to inspection at all times during the office hours of the
state or local agency and every person has a right to inspect
any public record, except as provided. (Gov. Code Sec. 6253 et
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seq.)
This measure would reauthorize the CLRC's study of 23 specified
topics.
This measure would additionally authorize the CLRC to study,
report on, and prepare recommended legislation as soon as
possible, considering the CLRC's preexisting duties and workload
demands, concerning the revision of the portions of the
California Public Records Act and related provisions, and would
specify that this legislation shall accomplish all of the
following objectives:
reduce the length and complexity of current sections;
avoid unnecessary cross-references;
neither expand nor contract the scope of existing
exemptions to the general rule that records are open to the
public pursuant to the current provisions of the Public
Records Act;
use terms with common definitions;
organize the existing provisions in such a way that
similar provisions are located in close proximity to one
another;
eliminate duplicative provisions; and
clearly express legislative intent without any change in
the substantive provisions.
This measure would require that before commencing work on any
project within the calendar of topics authorized or directed for
study by the Legislature, the CLRC shall submit a detailed
description of the scope of work to the Chairs and Vice Chairs
of the Committees on Judiciary of the Senate and Assembly, and
any other policy committee that has jurisdiction over the
subject matter of the study, and if during the course of the
project there is a major change to the scope of work, submit a
description of the change.
This measure would provide that CLRC staff is invited to appear
and testify at any committee hearing of a bill to implement a
CLRC recommendation, for the purpose of explaining the
recommendation and answering questions posed by the committee
members, provided that the staff do not advocate for the passage
or defeat of the legislation.
This measure would further request the CLRC to provide a copy of
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a recommendation to each member of a policy committee that is
hearing a bill that would implement the recommendation.
COMMENT
1. Stated need for the bill
According to the author:
Once the California Law Revision Commission identifies a
topic for study, it cannot begin to work on the topic
until the Legislature, by concurrent resolution,
authorizes the CLRC to conduct the study. Due to the
multiple changes to the statute, the California Public
Record Act has become difficult for the public to
understand. ACR 148 will authorize the CLRC to conduct the
study on the California Public Records Act.
The CPRA, signed into law in 1968 as a general record
keeping law, allows the public to monitor government
activity. Since the enactment of the CPRA, it has been
amended multiple times to exempt certain records. Due to
the multiple changes to the statute, the CPRA has become
difficult for the public to understand.
2. Reauthorization of topics previously authorized for
study
The CLRC currently has a list of 23 topics that the Legislature
has previously authorized for study. This measure would
reauthorize the CLRC to study the following topics: Creditors'
Remedies; Probate Code; Real and Personal Property; Family Law;
Discovery in Civil Cases; Rights and Disabilities of Minors and
Incompetent Persons; Evidence; Arbitration; Administrative Law;
Attorney's Fees; Uniform Unincorporated Nonprofit Association
Act; Trial Court Unification; Contract Law; Common Interest
Developments; Legal Malpractice Statutes of Limitation;
Coordination of Public Records Statutes; Criminal Sentencing;
Subdivision Map Act and Mitigation Fee Act; Uniform Statute and
Rule Construction Act; Place of Trial in Civil Cases; the legal
and policy implications of treating a charter school as a public
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entity; the Fish and Game Code; and the relationship between
mediation confidentiality and attorney malpractice.
3. Authorizing the CLRC to further study the California
Public Records Act
This measure authorizes the CLRC to further study the California
Public Records Act ("CPRA"). Under the CPRA, public records are
open to inspection at all times during the office hours of a
state or local agency and every person has a right to inspect
any public record, except as specified in law. Since the CPRA
was enacted in 1968, records that would otherwise be available
for public access have been exempted from the CPRA.
This measure authorizes the CLRC to study, report on, and
prepare recommended legislation as soon as possible, considering
the CLRC's preexisting duties and workload demands, concerning
the revision of the portions of the California Public Records
Act and related provisions. This measure would specify that the
recommended legislation shall accomplish the objectives of:
reducing the length and complexity of current sections; avoiding
unnecessary cross-references; using terms with common
definitions; organizing the existing provision in such a way
that similar provisions are located in close proximity to one
another; eliminating duplicative provisions; neither expanding
nor contracting the scope of existing exemptions to the general
rule that records are open to the public pursuant to the current
provisions of the CPRA; and clearly expressing legislative
intent without any change in the substantive provisions.
Because of nearly 50 years of amendments to the CPRA, the CPRA
has become more difficult to understand. Making it easier for
the public to understand their rights to access government
information will arguably lead to more access to public records
and more government accountability.
4. Coordination rules
This measure would continue the existing coordination rules
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relating to the relationship between the CLRC and the
Legislature.
a. Communication with the Legislature
ACR 49 (Evans, Res. Ch. 98, Stats. 2009) increased
communication between the CLRC and the Legislature by
providing that prior to commencing work on any project within
the list of topics authorized or directed for study by the
Legislature, the CLRC shall submit a detailed description of
the scope of work to the Chairs and Vice Chairs of the
Committees on Judiciary of the Senate and Assembly, and if
during the course of the project there is a major change to
the scope of work, submit a description of the change.
ACR 98 (Wagner, Res. Ch. 108, Stats. 2012) augmented that
requirement by further requiring the CLRC to submit that
description of the scope of work to any other policy committee
that has jurisdiction over the subject matter of the study.
That enhanced requirement for early communication further
facilitates legislative input on whether a particular proposed
topic is consistent with what has been authorized. This
measure would maintain these communication requirements.
b. Inviting staff of the CLRC to appear and testify
ACR 98 (Wagner, Res. Ch. 108, Stats. 2012) specifically
authorized the staff of the CLRC to appear and testify at any
committee hearing of a bill that implements a CLRC
recommendation. That formal authorization ensures that the
staff of the CLRC is technically able to testify at committee
hearings for the purpose of explaining the CLRC recommendation
and answering questions posed by committee members. However,
CLRC staff may not advocate for the passage or defeat of a
commission recommendation by the Legislature. Consistent with
ACR 98, this measure would maintain the authorization of and
restrictions on CLRC staff testimony.
c. Copies of commission recommendations
Under existing law, the CLRC is required to distribute its
reports and recommendations to the Governor, the Members of
the Legislature, and the heads of all state departments.
Despite that requirement, a separate code section provides
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that "[n]o report shall be distributed to a Member of the
Legislature unless specifically requested by that member."
(Gov. Code Sec. 9795.) ACR 98 (Wagner, Res. Ch. 108, Stats.
2012) ensured that the requirement is technically met by
formally requiring the CLRC to provide a copy of a
recommendation to each member of a policy committee that is
hearing a bill that would implement the recommendation. This
provision facilitates communication between the Legislature
and the CLRC by ensuring the CLRC is able to provide members
of policy committees with the underlying recommendation that
is the basis of legislation being heard by the committee.
This measure would maintain these report and recommendation
distribution requirements.
Support : None Known
Opposition : None Known
HISTORY
Source : California Law Revision Commission
Related Pending Legislation : None Known
Prior Legislation :
SCR 54 (Padilla, Ch. 115, Stats. 2013) authorized the CLRC
report on and prepare recommended legislation concerning
statutes governing access by state and local government agencies
to customer information from communications service providers.
AB 567 (Wagner, Ch. 15, Stats. 2013) repealed the requirement
that the CLRC make the decennial recommendations, and retained
the CLRC's general authority to study, review, and make
recommendations regarding the enforcement of judgments law.
ACR 125 (Papan, Ch. 167, Stats. 2002) authorized the CLRC to
study, report on, and prepare recommended legislation concerning
the issue of financial privacy to address protection and control
of a consumer's personal information and provide both
administrative and civil penalties.
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The following is a list of the prior annual authorizing
resolutions for the CLRC:
SCR 83 (Monning, Ch. 63, Stats. 2014)
ACR 98 (Wagner, Res. Ch. 108, Stats. 2012) See Comment 3a, b,
and c.
ACR 49 (Evans, Res. Ch. 98, Stats. 2009) See Comment 3a.
ACR 35 (Evans, Res. Ch. 100, Stats. 2007)
SCR 15 (Morrow, Res. Ch. 1, Stats. 2006)
SCR 42 (Campbell, Res. Ch. 122, Stats. 2005)
SCR 4 (Morrow, Res. Ch. 92, Stats. 2003)
ACR 123 (Wayne, Res. Ch. 166, Stats. 2002)
SCR 13 (Morrow, Res. Ch. 78, Stats 2001)
ACR 17 (Wayne, Res. Ch. 81, Stats. 1999)
SCR 65 (Kopp, Res. Ch. 91, Stats. 1998)
SCR 3 (Kopp, Res. Ch. 102, Stats. 1997)
SCR 43 (Kopp, Res. Ch. 38, Stats. 1996)
Prior Vote :
Assembly Floor (Ayes 78, Noes 0)
Assembly Appropriations Committee (Ayes 20, Noes 0)
Assembly Judiciary Committee (Ayes 10, Noes 0)
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