BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
AB 1233 (Levine) - Whistleblower investigation policy: state
agencies
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|Version: August 1, 2016 |Policy Vote: G.O. 13 - 0 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: No |
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|Hearing Date: August 8, 2016 |Consultant: Debra Cooper |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: AB 1233 would require a state agency, as defined, that
utilizes a whistleblower policy separate from the California
Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA) to publicly report, in the
manner in which the State Auditor is authorized to publicly
report, any investigation of a whistleblower complaint that has
substantiated improper government activities.
Fiscal
Impact:
University of California : Estimated ongoing costs of $780,000
per year for additional staffing at each of their 13 sites for
assistance with data-collection, system-wide coordination, and
reporting. (GF)
California State University : Estimated ongoing costs of
$140,000 per year for an additional staff position at their
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Chancellor's Office for coordination across campuses of
provisions in this bill. (GF)
Other State Agencies : Unknown ongoing costs for any other
state agency that utilizes a whistleblower policy other than
the WPA. (GF and/or special fund)
Background: The WPA authorizes the State Auditor to receive complaints
from state employees and members of the public who wish to
report an improper governmental activity. Complaints received by
the State Auditor remain confidential, additionally, the
identity of the complainant may not be revealed without the
permission of the complainant, except to an appropriate law
enforcement agency conducting a criminal investigation. Upon
receiving a complaint, the State Auditor may conduct an
investigation into the facts alleged in the complaint to
determine whether an improper governmental activity has
occurred.
If the State Auditor determines that an improper governmental
activity has occurred, he or she may issue a public report on
the matter, but is not required to do so. When determining if a
report will be made public, it is the decision of the State
Auditor and is not determined by the state agency involved.
State agencies that do not utilize the WPA have the ability to
determine whether an investigation involving their own agency
can be kept private or made public. According to the author,
"when state agencies use internal whistleblower policies to
avoid public disclosure, they sidestep the transparency intended
under the WPA."
Both the University of California (UC) and the California State
University (CSU) have their own internal whistleblower policies.
Neither UC nor CSU publicly reports their own internal
substantiated complaints in the manner that the State Auditor
does.
Proposed Law:
This bill would require that any state agency, including UC
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and CSU, that utilizes a whistleblower investigation policy
separate from the California Whistleblower Protection Act
publicly report, in the manner in which the State Auditor is
authorized to publicly report any investigation of a
whistleblower complaint that has substantiated improper
governmental activities. This bill would also specify that its
provisions shall not be deemed to require the disclosure of a
public record that is otherwise not required to be disclosed
pursuant to any other state law.
Related
Legislation:
AB 567 (Villines, Chapter 452, Statutes of 2009) revised the WPA
to broaden the class of employees covered by the WPA, expanded
the definition of improper governmental activity that could be
reported by a whistleblower, and permitted the State Auditor to
publicly report on recommendations made to heads of state
agencies that have not been fully implemented after one year,
among other things.
Staff
Comments: The University of California estimates they would
need 0.5 PY analyst positions at each of their 13 sites (10
campuses, the Office of the President, the Division of
Agriculture and Natural Resources, and the Lawrence Berkeley
Laboratory) to comply with the provisions of this bill. Each of
the 13 sites currently has a Locally Designated Official (LDO)
who coordinates whistleblower responsibilities at their
respective site. An analyst would assist with the
data-collection, coordination, and reporting as delegated by the
LDO.
California State University has an Equal
Opportunity/Whistleblower Compliance Unit at their Chancellor's
Office and a designated person on each campus that receives
whistleblower complaints. CSU estimates they would require an
extra position in their Chancellor's Office to coordinate across
their 23 campuses to ensure compliance with the reporting
requirements included in this bill.
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