BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 1546 Page 1 Date of Hearing: January 21, 2016 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Jimmy Gomez, Chair AB 1546 (Olsen) - As Amended January 7, 2016 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Policy |Health |Vote:|19 - 0 | |Committee: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Urgency: Yes State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No SUMMARY: This bill requires State Registrar, in consultation with the County Recorders' Association of California and other stakeholders, to study all security features for paper used to print a vital record pursuant to requirements in existing law, AB 1546 Page 2 or alternative security features that are equal to or better than those that are currently mandated. It also contains an urgency clause. FISCAL EFFECT: Minor and absorbable costs to the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) to complete the report (Health Statistics fund). COMMENTS: 1)Purpose. This bill is intended to ensure California's vital records use appropriate security features. Given recent events, the author suggests it is prudent to assess the state's security requirements. 2)Background. Both the state and counties issue certified copies of vital records, including birth, death, and marriage certificates. Current law mandates certified copies contain certain security features. One mandated feature is a type of printing called "Intaglio printing," which uses special paper. In 2015, the only U.S. supplier of this special paper suddenly went out of business, leading to shortages of paper and rationing by some counties of certified copies of vital records. A previous version of this bill suspended the requirement for Intaglio printing on an urgency basis to deal with this problem. Although the acute situation has since been resolved by locating new suppliers, the situation exposed that the state's vital records system was vulnerable to such disruptions, and that it would potentially be beneficial to assess the security features used in California against other AB 1546 Page 3 available technologies. 3)Urgency. Though it seems reasonable to require a study, the urgency of the study seems unclear. Analysis Prepared by:Lisa Murawski / APPR. / (916) 319-2081