BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 271
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
271 (Obernolte)
As Amended May 28, 2015
Majority vote
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|Committee |Votes |Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+------+-----------------------+------------------|
|Human Services |7-0 |Chu, Mayes, Calderon, | |
| | |Lopez, Maienschein, | |
| | |Mark Stone, Thurmond | |
| | | | |
|----------------+------+-----------------------+------------------|
|Appropriations |17-0 |Gomez, Bigelow, Bonta, | |
| | |Calderon, Chang, Daly, | |
| | |Eggman, Gallagher, | |
| | |Eduardo Garcia, | |
| | |Gordon, Holden, Jones, | |
| | |Quirk, Rendon, Wagner, | |
| | |Weber, Wood | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Expands the authority granted under current law for
Alternative Payment Programs (APPs) and child care providers to
use electronic or other alternative methods for the storage of
records. Specifically, this bill:
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1)Authorizes APPs and child care providers to retain child care
records electronically, and requires any conversion from a paper
record to an electronic format, as well as the storage of the
electronic record, to comply with minimum state and federal
standards, as specified.
2)Authorizes APPs and providers to use a digital signature, which
shall have the same force and effect as a manual signature,
provided state and federal standards are met, as specified.
3)Deletes the requirement that APPs and child care providers only
store records electronically if the original documents were
created in electronic format. Additionally expands the current
five-year requirement for the storage of original records, as
specified, to all records.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Establishes the California Child Care and Development Services
Act (CCDSA) to provide a comprehensive, community-based,
coordinated, and cost-effective system of child care and
development services for children from birth to age 13 with the
purpose of enhancing the social, emotional, physical, and
intellectual development of children. (Education Code (EDC)
Sections 8200 and 8201)
2)States the intent of the Legislature that all families have
access to child care and development services, regardless of
their demographic background, in order to help them attain
financial stability through employment, while maximizing growth
and development of their children, and enhancing their parenting
skills through participation in child care and development
programs. (EDC Section 8202)
3)Defines child care and development services as care and services
designed to meet a wide variety of needs of children and their
families, while their parents or guardians are working, in
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training, seeking employment, incapacitated, or in need of
respite. (EDC Section 8208(i))
4)Authorizes local government agencies or non-profit organizations
to contract with the California Department of Education (CDE) to
operate APPs and provide alternative payments and support
services to parents and child development providers. (EDC
Section 8220)
5)Establishes requirements and procedures APPs and child
development providers must follow as contracted agencies with
the CDE, including but not limited to tracking and reporting of
attendance, accounting and auditing requirements, and
reimbursement and payment procedures. (EDC Section 8221.5)
6)Requires any agency that contracts with CDE for the provision of
educational services to undergo a periodic audit regarding the
use of state and federal funds, as specified. (EDC Section
33420)
7)Requires agencies that receive state funds to, at the request of
the Superintendent of Public Instruction, make all records
pertaining to its state-funded programs available to the CDE, as
specified, and requires that all records be retained by each
agency for at least five years, as specified. (EDC Section
33421)
8)Permits APPs and child care providers to maintain records in
electronic format only if the original documents were created in
electronic format, as specified. (EDC Section 8227.3)
9)Establishes the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA),
which permits, but does not require, a record or signature to be
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created, generated, sent, communicated, received, stored, or
otherwise processed or used by electronic means or in electronic
form. (Civil Code Section 1633.1 et seq.)
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, this bill will result in one-time costs of
approximately $73,000 to train CDE audit staff, revise existing
audit procedures, update CDE's Audit Guide and develop
regulations. This bill will also result in on-going costs, likely
in the several hundred thousands of dollars, for increased audit
fieldwork costs of approximately $3,980 per week. For a small
agency a minimum of one additional week would be required. For
larger agencies, it is unknown how many additional weeks would be
required due to a variety of recordkeeping complexities.
COMMENTS:
Alternative Payment Programs: There are currently 76 APPs
contracted with the CDE, funded through state and federal funds,
to provide an array of support and payment services that enable
low-income, eligible families to access subsidized child care.
APPs do not provide direct child development services or programs,
rather they provide families who are participating in
welfare-to-work activities under the California Work Opportunities
and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program, or who are
low-income but do not qualify for CalWORKs, with subsidized child
care vouchers. Those child care vouchers can be used to access
child care at either a Title 5 or Title 22 child development
center or with a license-exempt child care provider who meets
certain criteria. The voucher can only be used at a Title 22
program that accepts them, whereas all vouchers must be accepted
at Title 5 programs.
Typically, a family that receives a voucher from an APP will then
be referred to a local child care resource and referral (R&R)
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network. The R&R network, also funded through state and federal
dollars, will assist a family by helping to identify and access
the appropriate and desired child development program for the
child or children. However, due to lack of state resources and
ongoing cuts to child care, access to programs able to accept
vouchers is limited. Should the family be unable to find
appropriate care, they will be placed on a waiting list, if one is
available.
Electronic records: SB 820 (Sher), Chapter 428, Statutes of 1999,
enacted the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA), which is
described as the first comprehensive effort to prepare state law
for the electronic commerce era. Through this legislation,
California aligned itself with a process developed by the
Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws to govern
electronic transactions, which generally applies to all records or
signatures that are generated or transmitted electronically, the
formation of contracts using electronic records, the creation and
retention of electronic records and signatures, and the procedures
governing changes and errors in electronically-transmitted
records. While the UETA does not require records or signatures to
be recorded or maintained electronically, it does provide a
process by which transactions can occur electronically. Writing
in explanation of the UETA, the Conference of Commissioners on
Uniform State Laws states "UETA applies only to transactions in
which each party has agreed by some means to conduct them by
electronically. Agreement is essential. Nobody is forced to
conduct to electronic transactions."
Fourteen years later, AB 274 (Bonilla) Chapter 733, Statutes of
2013, was adopted. Although AB 274 was not directly associated
with the further implementation of the UETA, it was initially
introduced to, among other changes, specifically allow APPs to
maintain records electronically in accordance with state and
federal auditing standards. It was later amended to limit the
electronic maintenance of records to only those that were
generated electronically. In December 2013, the California
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Department of Education issued management bulletin 13-10
implementing the requirements of AB 274, which included additional
guidance on what types of documents could be generated and
transmitted electronically. In this guidance, the department
explicitly states that "documents or records created in paper form
cannot be scanned and stored electronically. These records must
be stored in their original paper format."
Need for this bill: According to the author, "California leads
the nation when it comes to innovation and technology. However,
many of our state government operations have been left in the
past. As a result, a number of state agencies are forced to
operate in a manner that is both outdated and inefficient. [This
bill] would update an outmoded procedure by giving child care
agencies the option of saving and storing all of their paperwork
electronically. Providing child care programs with this option
would both modernize agency operations and maximize the use of
public dollars."
Analysis Prepared by:
Myesha Jackson / HUM. S. / (916) 319-2089 FN:
0000658