BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2746|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2746
Author: Obernolte (R)
Amended: 3/28/16 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE ENERGY, U. & C. COMMITTEE: 10-0, 6/21/16
AYES: Hueso, Morrell, Cannella, Gaines, Hertzberg, Lara,
Leyva, McGuire, Pavley, Wolk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Hill
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 67-0, 5/27/16 (Consent) - See last page for
vote
SUBJECT: Public Utilities Commission: contracts: electronic
submissions
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill requires the California Public Utilities
Commission (CPUC) to adopt procedures authorizing the submittal
of electronic signatures and documents by all parties on
contracts involving the CPUC.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Defines "electronic signature" to mean an electronic sound,
symbol, or process attached to or logically associated with an
electronic record and executed or adopted by a person with the
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Page 2
intent to sign the electronic record. (Code of Civil
Procedures §17).
2)Establishes the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, which
provides for specified requirements related to the use of
electronic documents, including authorizing the use of an
electronic record when a law requires a signature.
(Code of Civil Procedures §1633.1 et seq.)
This bill requires the CPUC to adopt procedures authorizing the
submittal of electronic signatures and documents by all parties
on contracts involving the CPUC.
Background
The CPUC, like other state agencies, contracts with outside
consultants when it lacks the in-house resources or expertise to
execute a given service. For example, the CPUC contracts with
outside legal counsel to perform public records requests, assess
the gas pipeline safety programs, review the agency's ex parte
communications practices, and others. The CPUC, like other
state agencies, relies on the Department of General Services
(DGS) State Contracting Manual when soliciting or entering into
a contract to provide services. The roughly 150-page manual
includes a requirement that contracts include original
handwritten signatures (noted on page 46). As a result, a
contract may need to be shuttled across the state to various
locations to secure original signatures from the various
parties, often resulting in increased cost for delivery and a
delay in executing the agreement. On the other hand, the use of
electronic signatures can reduce the need to mail original
documents across the state and save time by securing a signature
rather quickly and efficiently.
Several laws have been passed to explicitly authorize the use of
electronic signatures on various legal documents ranging from
warrants, court documents, county board of equalization
applications, documents submitted to the Department of Motor
Vehicles, and many others. However, in the case of state
contracting practices the DGS Manual still requires original
signatures. This bill requires the CPUC to establish procedures
authorizing the use of electronic signatures.
Better placed at DGS. The requirement to authorize the use of
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Page 3
electronic signatures for state contracts may be better placed
at the DGS since DGS is the agency responsible for developing
the state contracting manual.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified7/28/16)
None received
OPPOSITION: (Verified7/28/16)
None received
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: The author states "the DGS State
Contracting Manual requires contracts to have original
handwritten signatures. At the CPUC, contracts often involve
numerous signatories in various locations. Getting wet
signatures from all of these individuals requires contract
documents to be mailed to each party. Not only is this process
inefficient and difficult to track, it is also costly and
creates opportunities for the documents to get lost along the
way. If this happens, the process must start over, leading to
additional costs and delays."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 67-0, 5/27/16
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker,
Bigelow, Bonilla, Bonta, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau,
Chávez, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Eggman,
Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Gatto,
Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Harper, Roger
Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder,
Lopez, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Mullin,
Nazarian, Obernolte, Olsen, Patterson, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas,
Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond,
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Page 4
Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bloom, Brough, Brown, Chiu, Dodd, Eduardo
Garcia, Grove, Hadley, Jones-Sawyer, Low, Melendez, O'Donnell,
Ting
Prepared by:Nidia Bautista / E., U., & C. / (916) 651-4107
8/3/16 19:40:18
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