Amended in Senate June 23, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly BillNo. 1520


Introduced by Committee on Judiciary (Assembly Membersbegin delete Mark Stoneend deletebegin insert Mark end insertbegin insertStoneend insert (Chair), Alejo, Chau, Chiu, Cristina Garcia, Holden, and O’Donnell)

March 10, 2015


An act to amend Sectionbegin delete 51.7 of the Civil Code, and to repeal Section 1 of Chapter 1293 of the Statutes of 1976, relating to civil rights.end deletebegin insert 6254.16 of the Government Code, relating to public records.end insert

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1520, as amended, Committee on Judiciary. begin deleteCivil rights. end deletebegin insertPublic Records.end insert

begin insert

The California Public Records Act requires that public records, as defined, be open to inspection at all times during the office hours of the state or local agency and that every person has a right to inspect any public record, with specified exceptions. Existing law provides that the act shall not be construed to require the disclosure of specified information concerning utility customers of local agencies, except for certain purposes.

end insert
begin insert

This bill would, instead, provide that the act shall not be construed to require the disclosure of specified information concerning residential utility customers of local agencies. By increasing the duties of local officials, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

end insert
begin insert

The California Constitution requires local agencies, for the purpose of ensuring public access to the meetings of public bodies and the writings of public officials and agencies, to comply with a statutory enactment that amends or enacts laws relating to public records or open meetings and contains findings demonstrating that the enactment furthers the constitutional requirements relating to this purpose.

end insert
begin insert

This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.

end insert
begin insert

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

end insert
begin insert

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

end insert
begin delete

The Ralph Civil Rights Act of 1976 provides, in part, that all persons within the jurisdiction of this state have the right to be free from any violence, or intimidation by threat of violence, on account of their sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, or sexual orientation.

end delete
begin delete

This bill would repeal the provision entitling the Ralph Civil Rights Act of 1976, and would instead state the findings of the Legislature that the above-described provision was enacted as part of the Ralph Civil Rights Act of 1976.

end delete

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: begin deleteno end deletebegin insertyesend insert. State-mandated local program: begin deleteno end deletebegin insertyesend insert.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

P2    1begin insert

begin insertSECTION 1.end insert  

end insert

begin insertSection 6254.16 of the end insertbegin insertGovernment Codeend insertbegin insert is
2amended to read:end insert

3

6254.16.  

Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to require
4the disclosure of thebegin delete name,end deletebegin insert names,end insert creditbegin delete history,end deletebegin insert histories,end insert utility
5usage data, homebegin delete address,end deletebegin insert addresses,end insert or telephonebegin delete numberend deletebegin insert numbersend insert
6 ofbegin insert residentialend insert utility customers of local agencies, except that
7disclosure ofbegin delete name,end deletebegin insert the names,end insert utility usage data, andbegin delete theend delete home
8begin delete addressend deletebegin insert addressesend insert ofbegin insert residentialend insert utility customers of local agencies
9shall be made available upon request as follows:

10(a) To an agent or authorized family member of the person to
11whom the information pertains.

12(b) To an officer or employee of another governmental agency
13when necessary for the performance of its official duties.

14(c) Upon court order or the request of a law enforcement agency
15relative to an ongoing investigation.

16(d) Upon determination by the local agency that thebegin insert residentialend insert
17 utility customer who is the subject of the request has used utility
P3    1services in a manner inconsistent with applicable local utility usage
2policies.

3(e) Upon determination by the local agency that thebegin insert residentialend insert
4 utility customer who is the subject of the request is an elected or
5appointed official with authority to determine the utility usage
6policies of the local agency, provided that the home address of an
7appointed official shall not be disclosed without his or her consent.

8(f) Upon determination by the local agency that the public
9interest in disclosure of the information clearly outweighs the
10public interest in nondisclosure.

11begin insert

begin insertSEC. 2.end insert  

end insert
begin insert

The Legislature finds and declares that Section 1 of
12this act, which amends Section 6254.16 of the Government Code,
13furthers, within the meaning of paragraph (7) of subdivision (b)
14of Section 3 of Article I of the California Constitution, the purposes
15of that constitutional section as it relates to the right of public
16access to the meetings of local public bodies or the writings of
17local public officials and local agencies. Pursuant to paragraph
18(7) of subdivision (b) of Section 3 of Article I of the California
19Constitution, the Legislature makes the following findings:

end insert
begin insert

20In light of recurrent shortages of water and energy in California
21and the prospect that climate change will likely increase the
22intensity and frequency of these shortages, the Legislature finds
23that it is in the public’s interest to know that industrial,
24institutional, and commercial water and energy users are
25responsibly meeting conservation goals. Moreover, unlike
26residential utility users, the privacy interests of industrial,
27institutional, and commercial users are not sufficient to justify
28granting an exemption from the public disclosure requirements,
29in this context.

end insert
30begin insert

begin insertSEC. 3.end insert  

end insert
begin insert

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
31Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
32the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
33district under this act would result from a legislative mandate that
34is within the scope of paragraph (7) of subdivision (b) of Section
353 of Article I of the California Constitution.

end insert
begin delete
36

SECTION 1.  

Section 51.7 of the Civil Code is amended to
37read:

38

51.7.  

(a) All persons within the jurisdiction of this state have
39the right to be free from any violence, or intimidation by threat of
40violence, committed against their persons or property because of
P4    1political affiliation, or on account of any characteristic listed or
2defined in subdivision (b) or (e) of Section 51, or position in a
3labor dispute, or because another person perceives them to have
4one or more of those characteristics. The identification in this
5subdivision of particular bases of discrimination is illustrative
6rather than restrictive.

7(b) (1) A person shall not require another person to waive any
8legal right, penalty, remedy, forum, or procedure for a violation
9of this section, as a condition of entering into a contract for goods
10or services, including the right to file and pursue a civil action or
11complaint with, or otherwise notify, the Attorney General or any
12other public prosecutor, or law enforcement agency, the
13Department of Fair Employment and Housing, or any court or
14other governmental entity.

15(2) A person shall not refuse to enter into a contract with, or
16refuse to provide goods or services to, another person on the basis
17that the other person refuses to waive any legal right, penalty,
18remedy, forum, or procedure for a violation of this section,
19including the right to file and pursue a civil action or complaint
20with, or otherwise notify, the Attorney General or any other public
21prosecutor, or law enforcement agency, the Department of Fair
22Employment and Housing, or any other governmental entity.

23(3) Any waiver of any legal right, penalty, remedy, forum, or
24procedure for a violation of this section, including the right to file
25and pursue a civil action or complaint with, or otherwise notify,
26the Attorney General or any other public prosecutor, or law
27enforcement agency, the Department of Fair Employment and
28Housing, or any other governmental entity shall be knowing and
29voluntary, in writing, and expressly not made as a condition of
30entering into a contract for goods or services or as a condition of
31providing or receiving goods and services.

32(4) Any waiver of any legal right, penalty, remedy, forum, or
33procedure for a violation of this section that is required as a
34condition of entering into a contract for goods or services shall be
35deemed involuntary, unconscionable, against public policy, and
36unenforceable. Nothing in this subdivision shall affect the
37enforceability or validity of any other provision of the contract.

38(5) Any person who seeks to enforce a waiver of any legal right,
39penalty, remedy, forum, or procedure for a violation of this section
40shall have the burden of proving that the waiver was knowing and
P5    1voluntary and not made as a condition of the contract or of
2providing or receiving the goods or services.

3(6) The exercise of a person’s right to refuse to waive any legal
4right, penalty, remedy, forum, or procedure for a violation of this
5section, including a rejection of a contract requiring a waiver, shall
6not affect any otherwise legal terms of a contract or an agreement.

7(7) This subdivision shall not apply to any agreement to waive
8any legal rights, penalties, remedies, forums, or procedures for a
9violation of this section after a legal claim has arisen.

10(8) This subdivision shall apply to any agreement to waive any
11legal right, penalty, remedy, forum, or procedure for a violation
12of this section, including an agreement to accept private arbitration,
13entered into, altered, modified, renewed, or extended on or after
14January 1, 2015.

15(c) This section does not apply to statements concerning
16positions in a labor dispute that are made during otherwise lawful
17labor picketing.

18(d) The Legislature finds and declares that this section was
19enacted as part of the Ralph Civil Rights Act of 1976, in Chapter
201293 of the Statutes of 1976.

21(e) Nothing in this section shall be construed to negate or
22otherwise abrogate the provisions of Sections 1668, 1953, and
233513.

24

SEC. 2.  

Section 1 of Chapter 1293 of the Statutes of 1976 is
25repealed.

end delete


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