BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 241
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Date of Hearing: January 21, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
AB
241 (Gordon) - As Amended April 29, 2015
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|Policy |Local Government |Vote:|9 - 0 |
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| |Privacy and Consumer | |11 - 0 |
| |Protection | | |
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable:
No
SUMMARY:
This bill requires a local public entity to provide the name and
mailing address of each retired employee to an organization
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representing retired employees of the local public entity, in
certain instances leading up to and when a local public entity
files for bankruptcy.
FISCAL EFFECT:
Local mandate costs would fall under Proposition 42 and, thus,
are not reimbursable.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. This bill is intended to help retirees organize as a
group in order to be properly represented as a party in a
local government bankruptcy. According to the author, "When
the City of Stockton filed for bankruptcy, retirees from the
city organized as a group in order to become a party to the
bankruptcy. This group received approval as a labor
organization under the Internal Revenue Service's Code
501(c)(5). They were then able to obtain donations and hire
legal counsel to represent them in bankruptcy court. The
group then requested from the city, the names and addresses of
the city's retirees so they could notify them of their intent
to seek representation before the bankruptcy court. The city
refused. As a result, notifying retirees?was made
exponentially more difficult?Other creditors, active employee
organizations, and public agencies that have a claim in the
bankruptcy proceedings do not have the issue of organizing and
funding legal costs. Retirees do."
2)Background. The California Public Records Act (PRA) is
designed to give the public broad access to information that
public agencies hold. Any grounds for denying access to
public records must be found in the specific exemptions listed
in the PRA. This means a local agency must allow access to a
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record unless it can identify an exemption within the PRA that
would justify nondisclosure. The PRA specifically exempts
from disclosure "personnel, medical, or similar files, the
disclosure of which would constitute an unwarranted invasion
of personal privacy."
This bill would require the disclosure of the names and
mailing addresses of retired employees in the narrow instance
where the information is requested by an organization seeking
to represent retirees in a local government bankruptcy
proceeding.
3)Proposition 42. Proposition 42 was passed by voters on June 3,
2014, and requires all local governments to comply with the
PRA and the Ralph M. Brown Act (Brown Act) and with any
subsequent changes to those Acts. Proposition 42 also
eliminated reimbursement to local agencies for costs of
complying with the PRA and the Brown Act.
Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Swenson / APPR. / (916)
319-2081
AB 241
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