BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 884|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 884
Author: Gordon (D), et al.
Amended: 6/30/16 in Senate
Vote: 27 - Urgency
SENATE ELECTIONS & C.A. COMMITTEE: 4-1, 6/8/16
AYES: Allen, Hancock, Hertzberg, Liu
NOES: Anderson
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 4-2, 6/13/16
AYES: Lara, Beall, Hill, McGuire
NOES: Bates, Nielsen
NO VOTE RECORDED: Mendoza
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: Not relevant
SUBJECT: Legislature: legislative information: public use
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill repeals the prohibition against using
Assembly-generated television signals for political or
commercial purposes and requires the Legislature to cause
audiovisual recordings to be made of all open and public
proceedings of each house of the Legislature and the standing
committees thereof.
Senate Floor Amendments of 6/30/16 delete specified provisions
from the bill and relocate an existing provision to a new code
section.
AB 884
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ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Prohibits, pursuant to statute, a television signal generated
by the Assembly from being used for any political or
commercial purpose, including, but not limited to, any
campaign for elective public office or any campaign supporting
or opposing a ballot proposition submitted to the electors. A
person or organization who violates this prohibition is guilty
of a misdemeanor.
2)Requires the Legislative Counsel, with the advice of the
Assembly Committee on Rules and the Senate Committee on Rules,
to make certain information available to the public in
electronic form, including, among other things, the text of
each bill introduced in each current legislative session,
including each amended, enrolled, and chaptered form of each
bill. No action taken pursuant to this provision shall be
deemed to alter or relinquish any copyright or other
proprietary interest or entitlement of the State of California
relating to any of the information made available.
This bill:
1)Repeals the prohibition against using Assembly-generated
television signals for political or commercial purposes.
2)Places the information that the Legislative Counsel makes
available to the public pursuant to the above provisions
within the public domain and would provide that the State of
California retains no copyright or other proprietary interest
in that information.
3)Contains an urgency clause.
AB 884
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Background
Recent Litigation and Proposition 54. In Firearms Policy
Coalition v. Harris (2016), the United States District Court
Eastern District of California enjoined Section 9026.5 of the
Government Code from enforcement citing First Amendment
concerns. Section 9026.5 is the statute that contains the
prohibition against using Assembly-generated television signals
for political or commercial purposes which this bill repeals.
The Firearms Policy Coalition case would therefore be rendered
moot if this bill is enacted.
Proposition 54, the official title of which is "Legislature.
Legislation and Proceedings. Initiative Constitutional Amendment
and Statute." will appear on the November 8, 2016 ballot.
According to the official summary, the measure prohibits the
Legislature from passing any bill unless published on the
Internet for 72 hours before vote, requires the Legislature to
record its proceedings and post on the Internet, and authorizes
use of the recordings. In authorizing use of the recordings,
Proposition 54 also repeals the portion of Section 9026.5 that
contains the prohibition against using Assembly-generated
television signals for political or commercial purposes.
Comments
1)According to the author, although the California Constitution
currently provides that the proceedings of each house of the
Legislature and the committees thereof shall be open and
public, few Californians have the ability to attend
legislative proceedings in person. Recognizing that most
Californians are not able to participate in person, the
Legislature has taken steps to provide access to proceedings
by recording and broadcasting floor sessions and some
committee hearings. Moreover, Legislative Counsel provides
the public with electronic access to many legislative
publications. AB 884 updates provisions of California law
that currently limit the public use of legislatively-created
recordings and documents.
AB 884
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Related/Prior Legislation
SCA 14 (Wolk, 2016), among other things, requires the
Legislature to make audiovisual recordings of the proceedings of
each house of the Legislature and the standing committees
thereof, if those proceedings are required to be open and
public.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, the
Legislature would incur one-time General Fund costs of up to $2
million to purchase audiovisual recording equipment, and about
$1 million in ongoing General Fund costs related to personnel
and storage of the audiovisual recordings. (Prior version of
this bill.)
SUPPORT: (Verified 8/2/16)
California Common Cause
California Newspaper Publishers Association
Firearms Policy Coalition
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/13/16)
California Business Roundtable
First Amendment Coalition
Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association
Prepared by:Darren Chesin / E. & C.A. / (916) 651-4106
8/13/16 15:07:51
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AB 884
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