BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 2853 Page 1 Date of Hearing: May 4, 2016 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Lorena Gonzalez, Chair AB 2853 (Gatto) - As Amended April 13, 2016 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Policy |Judiciary |Vote:|10 - 0 | |Committee: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable: No SUMMARY: This bill: 1)Allows a public agency to comply with certain disclosure requirements under the California Public Records Act (CPRA) by posting any public record on its website and, in response to a request for a public record available on the website, AB 2853 Page 2 referring the requester to the website. 2)Stipulates that, after the agency refers the requester to the website per (1), if the person asks for a copy of any such public record, due to an inability to access or reproduce the public records from the website, the agency shall, within 10 days prepare a copy of the public record, at the requester's expense, and promptly notify the requester of the availability of the public record. FISCAL EFFECT: Potential savings to state and local agencies to the extent they are able to fulfill PRA requests by referring requestors to an agency website for the appropriate document(s). COMMENTS: Purpose. This bill responds to what the author sees as an abuse of the CPRA by private companies. These companies make public record requests that require public agencies - especially educational agencies and local school districts - to retrieve, assemble, and provide information that the private companies then sell to data brokers for targeted marketing purposes or to market their own products. The author maintains that these private, for-profit businesses are exploiting the CPRA, effectively using school district personnel and resources to find, retrieve, and assemble information to profit the company. Under CPRA, public agencies must reply to a public record request within ten days, which entails not only physically retrieving the records but also reviewing them to determine which, if any, exemptions apply, or if any other statutes AB 2853 Page 3 prohibit their disclosure. In addition, the agency must make reasonable efforts to help the person making the request identify responsive documents and assist the person in refining the request so as to avoid a denial. If the agency withholds any requested documents, or parts thereof, the agency must justify the withholding by demonstrating that the records in question are subject to an express exemption or that the public interest in confidentiality clearly outweighs the public interest in disclosure. If the request was made in writing, the response justifying the denial must also be writing. According to the author, it would be much more efficient and cost-effective to post disclosable records online where a member of the public could access and download the documents without making a formal request and without requiring the agency to run through the required responses to a request. Analysis Prepared by:Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081