BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 169
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Date of Hearing: April 29, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
AB
169 (Maienschein) - As Amended April 6, 2015
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable:
No
SUMMARY: This bill requires a local agency, except a school
district, that voluntarily posts a public record that is
described as "open" on its Internet website to post the public
record in an open format that meets all of the following
requirements:
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a) Retrievable, downloadable, indexable, and electronically
searchable by commonly used Internet search applications.
b) Platform independent and machine readable.
c) Available to the public free of charge and without any
restriction that would impede the reuse or redistribution
of the public record.
d) Retains the data definitions and structure present when
the data was compiled.
FISCAL EFFECT:
1)Negligible state costs.
2)There are no reimbursable local mandate costs because any
costs incurred by local agencies would fall under Proposition
42.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. This bill seeks to increase transparency and
usability of government data by establishing guidelines and
uniformity for local governments that choose to post "open"
records on their websites. According to the author, "Making
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local government data available online using open standards
will increase transparency and make operations more effective
and accountable to the public. It will streamline
communication between government agencies, both state and
local, and vastly improve accessibility for the public.
Making the information electronically searchable will also
permit the public to assist in identifying efficient solutions
for government, create economic opportunities and promote
innovation and accountability at the local level."
2)Background. In 2009, the United States Director of the Office
of Management and Budget issued an Open Government Directive
to federal government agencies. This Directive provided
guidelines to public agencies responding to public requests
under the Freedom of Information Act and instructed federal
government agencies to "publish information online in an open
format that can be retrieved, downloaded, indexed, and
searched by commonly used web search applications."
The National League of Cities in 2014 issued a report
entitled, "City Open Data Policies: Learning by Doing."
According to the report, "The White House launched its Open
Government Initiative in 2013, including its Data.gov website,
thus beginning the process of making government data more
readily available. In the wake of this federal initiative, in
partnership with communities, private companies, advocates,
and the technology sector, cities have begun to innovatively
pursue open data.
Several local jurisdictions in California have launched their
own Open Data websites or portals. For example, the City of
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Los Angeles has a searchable website with information on the
economy, public safety, the environment, city services, city
budget, events and culture, parks and libraries, and
transportation. About three months after the launch of Los
Angeles' open data site, the city appointed its first Chief of
Data officer.
3)Proposition 42. Proposition 42 was passed by voters on June
3, 2014, amended the state Constitution to require all local
governments to comply with the California Public Records Act
and the Ralph M. Brown Act and with any subsequent changes to
those Acts. Proposition 42 also eliminated reimbursement to
local agencies for costs of complying with the California
Public Records Act and the Ralph M. Brown Act.
4)Related Legislation.
a)AB 1215 (Ting), pending in this committee, creates the
California Open Data Act and the position of Chief Data
Officer, who is required to establish the California Open Data
Standard (standard), requires state agencies to make public
data available on an Internet Web portal pursuant to that
standard, and allows a local government to adopt that
standard.
b)SB 272 (Hertzberg), pending in Senate Appropriations, requires
local agencies, in implementing the CPRA, to create a catalog
of enterprise systems, make the catalog publicly available
upon request in the office of the clerk of the agency's
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legislative body, and post the catalog on the local agency's
Internet Web site.
c)SB 573 (Pan), pending in Senate Governmental Organization,
requires the Governor to appoint a Chief Data Officer who is
required to create a statewide open data portal to provide
public access to data sets from agencies within the state.
1)Previous Legislation. SB 1002 (Yee) of 2012 would have
required the State Chief Information Officer to conduct a
study to determine the feasibility of providing electronic
records in an open format. SB 1002 was vetoed by Governor
Brown. In his veto message he questioned the need for another
legislative report.
Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Swenson / APPR. / (916)
319-2081