BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 441|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 441
Author: Wolk (D)
Amended: 6/22/16
Vote: 21
PRIOR VOTES NOT RELEVANT
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: 7-0, 8/17/16 (Pursuant to Senate
Rule 29.10)
AYES: Jackson, Moorlach, Anderson, Hertzberg, Leno, Monning,
Wieckowski
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 8/11/16 (Consent) - See last page for
vote
SUBJECT: California Public Records Act: exemptions
SOURCE: City of Dixon
DIGEST: This bill exempts from disclosure under the California
Public Records Act (CPRA) any identification number,
alphanumeric character, or other unique identifying code used by
a public agency to identify a vendor or contractor, as
specified.
Assembly Amendments remove the prior contents of this bill which
authorized the San Francisco redevelopment successor agency to
issue specified bonds, and insert language exempting specified
identification numbers from the CPRA.
ANALYSIS:
SB 441
Page 2
Existing law:
1)Declares the people's right to transparency in government.
("The people have the right of access to information
concerning the conduct of the people's business, and
therefore, the meetings of public bodies and the writings of
public officials and agencies shall be open to public
scrutiny....") (Cal. Const., art. I, Sec. 3.)
2)Governs, pursuant to the CPRA, the public disclosure of
information collected and maintained by public agencies.
(Gov. Code Sec. 6250 et seq.) Generally, all public records
are accessible to the public upon request, unless the record
requested is exempt from public disclosure. (Gov. Code Sec.
6253.) There are 30 general categories of documents or
information that are exempt from disclosure, essentially due
to the character of the information, and unless it is shown
that the public's interest in disclosure outweighs the
public's interest in non-disclosure of the information, the
exempt information may be withheld by the public agency with
custody of the information. (Gov. Code Sec. 6254 et seq.)
This bill:
1)Provides that nothing in the CPRA requires the disclosure of
an identification number, alphanumeric character, or other
unique identifying code that a public agency uses to identify
a vendor or contractor, or an affiliate of a vendor or
contractor, unless the identification number, alphanumeric
character, or other unique identifying code is used in a
public bidding or an audit involving the public agency.
2)Finds and declares, as required by the California
Constitution, that this limitation on the public's right of
access to public records is necessary to protect the public
SB 441
Page 3
interest by balancing the right of the public to access
relevant information about contractors, vendors, and their
affiliates used by public agencies, while at the same time
preventing the misuse of identification information that may
be used to defraud local agencies.
Background
In April of this year, the City of Dixon uncovered a
sophisticated criminal attempt to divert a vendor's electronic
fund transfer into a fraudulently held bank account. Upon
becoming aware of the situation, the City of Dixon took
immediate action to stop the transfer and was successful in
returning the funds to the City's bank account. Ultimately, $1.3
million was at stake.
Dixon immediately initiated its own investigation, which, once
completed, found that the perpetrators facilitated their scheme
using public information made available online. In early March,
the perpetrators sent a fraudulent email to Dixon City staff and
included a letter via attachment, on what appeared to be the
vendor's letterhead. The letter provided specific payment
change instructions and included the vendor's unique
identification number, a number used by the City for billing and
bookkeeping purposes.
Dixon's investigation concluded that the vendor number was most
likely found through a simple Internet search. The vendor
numbers are easily obtainable and found in the "enumeration of
claims" published as part of the City Council agenda packet,
which is available online and upon request. This bill, seeking
to reduce the risk of a public agency falling victim to the type
of fraud the City of Dixon faced earlier this year, exempts
these numbers from disclosure under the CPRA.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
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According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, any costs
for state and local agencies to comply with this requirement
should be minor and absorbable.
SUPPORT: (Verified8/15/16)
City of Dixon (source)
League of California Cities
Rio Linda-Elverta Community Water District
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/15/16)
None received
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: In support, the League of California
Cities writes:
League policy holds that revisions to laws governing local
agency transparency should address material and documented
inadequacies in those laws and have a reasonable relationship
to resolving those problems. This measure addresses concerns
arising from documented attempts to defraud local agencies and
appropriately considers the public interest served by not
disclosing unique vendor identification numbers. Unique vendor
numbers serve only to allow city staff to correctly and
efficiently issue and track payments. Under this measure,
public disclosure of vendors and amounts paid will still be
available. It is our belief that this measure will help deter
and prevent attempts to defraud local agencies.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 8/11/16
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker,
Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke,
Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley,
SB 441
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Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth
Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto,
Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper,
Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine,
Linder, Lopez, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina,
Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen,
Patterson, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago,
Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber,
Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon
NO VOTE RECORDED: Roger Hernández, Low
Prepared by:Nichole Rapier / JUD. / (916) 651-4113
8/17/16 15:49:54
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