BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 728 Page 1 Date of Hearing: April 29, 2015 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Jimmy Gomez, Chair AB 728 (Hadley) - As Amended April 8, 2015 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Policy |Accountability and |Vote:|9 - 0 | |Committee: |Administrative Review | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No SUMMARY: This bill requires state agencies to post their Financial Integrity and State Manager's Accountability Act of 1983 (FISMA) reports on their websites within five days of finalization. AB 728 Page 2 FISCAL EFFECT: Minor and absorbable costs to state agencies to post reports on their websites. COMMENTS: 1)Purpose and Background. This bill requires state agencies to post FISMA reports on their websites within five days of finalization. These reports, which are due by the end of each odd-number calendar year, assess an agency's system of internal accounting, administrative controls, and monitoring practices. State agencies are currently required to submit FISMA reports to the Legislature, State Auditor, Controller, Treasurer, Attorney General, Governor, Director of Finance, and State Library where they must be available for public inspection. The web posting requirements in this bill are intended to increase public access to these reports. According to the author, this bill will encourage transparency and build public trust. While the website posting of these reports is not currently required, the Department of Finance (DOF) issued a February 2013 audit memo that encourages agencies to post their FISMA reports on their websites. While some agencies have posted these reports online, it appears as though many agencies have not. 2)Previous Legislation. AB 661 (Beth Gaines) of 2013 would have required agencies to post FISMA reports on their websites within five days of finalization. Additionally, it would have required the head of an agency to sign off on the reports AB 728 Page 3 under penalty of perjury and would have suspended without pay agency heads who did not submit FISMA reports within 30 days of their due dates. AB 661 was held on this Committee's Suspense File. Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Swenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081