BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 1712 Page 1 Date of Hearing: March 29, 2016 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES Susan Bonilla, Chair AB 1712 (Obernolte) - As Introduced January 26, 2016 SUBJECT: Child care: contractors: digital signatures SUMMARY: Authorizes child care contractors to use electronic signatures and requires that those signatures have the same force and effect as manual signatures, as specified. EXISTING LAW: 1)Establishes the California Child Care and Development Services Act to provide a comprehensive, community-based, coordinated, and cost-effective system of child care and development services for children from birth to age 13 with the purpose of enhancing the social, emotional, physical, and intellectual development of children. (EDC 8200 et seq.) 2)Defines child care and development services as services designed to meet a wide variety of needs of children and their families, while their parents or guardians are working, in training, seeking employment, incapacitated, or in need of respite. (EDC 8208(j)) AB 1712 Page 2 3)Authorizes local government agencies or non-profit organizations to contract with the California Department of Education (CDE) to operate Alternative Payment Programs (APPs) and provide alternative payments and support services to parents and child development providers. (EDC 8220 et seq.) 4)Establishes requirements and procedures APPs and child development providers must follow as contracted agencies with CDE, including, but not limited to, tracking and reporting of attendance, accounting and auditing requirements, and reimbursement and payment procedures. (EDC 8221.5) 5)Requires any agency that contracts with CDE for the provision of educational services to undergo a periodic audit regarding the use of state and federal funds, as specified. (EDC 33420) 6)Requires agencies that receive state funds to, at the request of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, make all records pertaining to its state-funded programs available to the CDE, as specified, and that all records be retained by each agency for at least five years, as specified. (EDC 33421) 7)Permits APPs and child care providers and child care contractors to maintain records in electronic format, as specified. (EDC 8227.3, 8262.1) 8)Permits APPs and child care providers to use electronic signatures, as specified. (EDC 8227.5) 9)Establishes the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA), which permits, but does not require, a record or signature to be created, generated, sent, communicated, received, stored, AB 1712 Page 3 or otherwise processed or used by electronic means or in electronic form. (CIV 1633.1 et seq.) 10)Establishes that a digital signature, when used in written communication with a public entity, shall have the same force and effect of a manual signature if it meets certain requirements, as specified. (GOV 16.5) FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown. COMMENTS: Subsidized child care programs: In California, subsidized child care may be available to families that meet certain eligibility requirements. The three main types of subsidized child care programs include: California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKS) child care, Alternative Payment Programs (APPs) and General Child Care. General Child Care offers child care and education/development services through contracted child care centers and family child care home networks that are administered through public or private agencies, while child care administered by CalWORKs and APPs is offered through a voucher system. For 2015-16, the Legislative Analyst's Office estimates that there are close to 131,000 CalWORKs child care slots; 33,000 APP slots; and 29,000 General Child Care slots. Digital signatures: California Government Code Section 16.5 defines "digital signature" as an electronic identifier, created by computer, intended by the party using it to have the same force and effect as the use of a manual signature if and only if it: is unique to the person using it; is capable of verification; is under the sole control of the person using it; is linked to data in such a manner that if the data are changed, AB 1712 Page 4 the digital signature is invalidated; and conforms to regulations adopted by the Secretary of State. This section also states that the use or acceptance of a digital signature shall be at the option of the parties. According to the California Secretary of State, digital signatures can be used for many transactions that currently require a hand written signature, such as on-line college applications and submitting applications for business permits at the local level. Need for this bill: According to the author, "California leads the nation when it comes to innovation and technology. However, many of our state government operations have been left in the past. As a result, a number of state agencies are forced to operate in a manner that is both outdated and inefficient. [This bill] would help modernize one of these out-of-date conventions and correct an oversight in existing law by allowing childcare center contractors to use electronic signatures. Providing child care centers with this option will greatly increase their efficiency and maximize the use of their resources." In similar legislation that was passed last year, APPs and child care contractors were authorized to maintain their records electronically and APPs were allowed to use electronic signatures. Last year's measure, however, did not give explicit permission to child care contractors to use electronic signatures that carry the same weight as manual signatures. This bill affords child care contractors the same ability as APPS to use electronic signatures. PRIOR LEGISLATION: AB 271 (Obernolte), Chapter 476, Statutes of 2015, expanded the authority of APPs and child care providers and child care contractors to use electronic methods for storage of documents AB 1712 Page 5 or records, and permitted APPs to use digital signatures pursuant to current state standards. REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION: Support California Alternative Payment Program Association (CAPPA) - co-sponsor Child Development Associates Opposition None on file. Analysis Prepared by:Kelsy C. Castillo / HUM. S. / (916) 319-2089 AB 1712 Page 6