BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 573|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 573
Author: Pan (D)
Amended: 6/2/15
Vote: 21
SENATE GOVERNMENTAL ORG. COMMITTEE: 7-1, 4/28/15
AYES: Hall, Block, Hernandez, Hill, Hueso, Lara, McGuire
NOES: Berryhill
NO VOTE RECORDED: Gaines, Galgiani, Vidak
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 5-2, 5/28/15
AYES: Lara, Beall, Hill, Leyva, Mendoza
NOES: Bates, Nielsen
SUBJECT: Statewide open data portalStatewide open data
portal.
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill requires the Governor, on or before January
1, 2016, to appoint a Chief Data Officer (CDO), who would report
to the Secretary of Government Operations and requires the CDO,
on or before January 1, 2017, to establish a statewide open data
portal.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Requires, under the California Public Records Act, for state
and local agencies to make their records available for public
inspection, unless an exemption from disclosure applies.
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2)Declares that access to information concerning the conduct of
people's business is a fundamental and necessary right of
every person in this state.
3)Requires every public agency to comply with the California
Public Records Act and with any subsequent statutory enactment
amending the act, or enacting or amending any successor act.
This bill:
1) Requires the Governor, on or before January 1, 2016, to
appoint a CDO, who would report to the Secretary of
Government Operations.
2) Requires the CDO, on or before January 1, 2017, in
cooperation with the Department of Technology (Caltech), to
create a statewide open data portal that is accessible to
the public. The CDO may elect to utilize data.ca.gov to
satisfy the requirements of this section.
3) Requires the CDO to publish a listing of all data that may
be provided to the public, subject to any state or federal
privacy laws or regulations, including, but not limited to,
privacy provisions in the California Public Records Act and
the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of
1996.
4) Requires the CDO, after each agency assesses its data
inventory, to create a statewide open data roadmap and shall
publish the open data roadmap on the statewide open data
portal.
5) Requires the CDO, on or after June 1, 2017, to ensure that
at least 150 data sets have been published on the statewide
open data portal.
6) Specifies that the statewide open data portal shall
include a link to the Internet Web site of any agency that
publishes its data on that site, including a link to any
existing open data Internet Web site, including, but not
limited to http://bythenumbers.sco.ca.gov/ and
https://chhs.data.ca.gov/.
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7) Requires the CDO to make the statewide open data portal
available to any city, county, city and county, district, or
other local agency interested in using the statewide open
data portal to publish its own data. Any data published by
a city, county, city and county, district, or other local
agency shall comply with all state or federal privacy laws
or regulations, including, but not limited to, privacy
provisions in the California Public Records Act and the
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996.
8) Requires the CDO, on or after January 1, 2018, and each
year thereafter, to publish a progress report for open data
within the state. The progress report shall include, but is
not limited to, an assessment of outcomes from the
implementation of this bill, innovation of the statewide
open data portal, whether there has been any cost savings as
a result of the implementation of this bill, and an
assessment of agency collaboration.
9) Requires the CDO, on or after January 1, 2017, in
consultation with the Attorney General, to publish a set of
guidelines for use by each agency. The guidelines shall
include, but are not limited to, definitions and assessments
of security, privacy, and legal concerns related to the
creation of an inventory and publication of data.
10) Requires the CDO, on or before October 1, 2016, to create
an open data working group. The open data working group
shall consist of state agencies' data coordinators, and
shall be headed by the CDO. The open data working group
shall meet at least quarterly, and shall do, but is not
limited to, all of the following:
a) Assess progress on the open data roadmap.
b) Discuss and recommend statewide policies and
guidelines.
c) Share best practices across agencies.
d) Coordinate data sharing between agencies.
11) Requires state agencies identified by the CDO, on or
before August 1, 2016, to appoint a data coordinator who
shall be responsible for compliance with the provisions of
this bill. The data coordinator may appoint a data steward
for each data set the agency intends to publish.
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12) Specifies that the agency shall publish its inventory on
the statewide open data portal and may additionally publish
its inventory on its own Internet Web site. If the agency
chooses to publish the inventory on its own Internet Web
site, the agency shall include on that site a link to the
statewide open data portal site.
13) Specifies that agencies are authorized to apply for and
accept public, private, and not-for-profit funding for the
purpose of developing, implementing, or managing the
statewide open data portal infrastructure and software.
14) Defines an "Agency" as a state agency, authority, board,
bureau, commission, council, department, division, or
office.
15) Defines a "Data set" as any information comprising
collection of information held in electronic form where all
or most of the information in the collection has been
obtained or recorded for the purpose of providing an agency
with information in connection with the provision of a
service by the agency or the carrying out of any other
function of the agency, is factual information that is not
the product of analysis of interpretation other than
calculation, and remains presented in a way that has not
been organized, adapted, or otherwise materially altered
since it was obtained or recorded.
16) Defines "inventory" as a summary listing of all available
data sets within an agency. The listing should include, but
is not limited to, a descriptive title of the data set as
well as a brief informative description of what information
may be found within the data set.
17) Defines "Open Data roadmap" as a strategic plan describing
the process by which 100 percent of the data held by an
agency will be made publicly available, subject to any state
or federal law or regulation relating to privacy. The
roadmap shall include, but is not limited to, and agency's
data inventory, a proposed timeline for the release of data
sets on a statewide or agency basis, and a methodology for
compliance with any state or federal law or regulation
relating to privacy.
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18) Defines a "Statewide open data portal" as a centralized
data Internet Web site, with the ability to display and
export data published from state agencies. The bill
specifies that data.ca.gov may be utilized as the statewide
open data portal.
Background
Purpose of the bill. According to the author, in 2009
California launched an ambitious initiative, intending to open
up over 100 million data records, however, since then,
California has lagged behind in opening state-level datasets.
The author further argues that despite being the home of some of
the most innovative technology ideas in the world, California
has not established itself as a leader in developing a unified
open state-wide data policy. While some entities in the state
have developed independent open data projects, California still
lacks a cohesive state policy that standardizes this data and
makes it readable across multiple platforms.
The author concludes that SB 573 would improve California's goal
to be transparent and accountable, increase efficiency and
cost-savings, and foster economic development.
Open Data. Open data is the raw data generated or collected by
government agencies made freely available for use by the public,
subject only to valid privacy, confidentiality, security, and
other legal restrictions. In addition, open data is the concept
that certain data should be freely available to everyone to use
and reuse as individuals see fit without restrictions from
copyright, patents, or any other restriction mechanism.
Most often than not, open data is collected by a government
entity at a particular Internet Web site. Such a website is
available to the public who is free to use all data without
restrictions. Most, if not all, of these open data portals are
managed by a particular individual and or agency to ensure that
the data available does not violate any state and privacy laws.
Currently 10 states have mandated statewide open data portal.
In California the cities of San Francisco and Los Angeles have
established open data portals. In addition, California
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currently has the California Health and Human Services Open Data
Portal that includes open data by the California Department of
Public Health, the Office of Statewide Health Planning and
Development and the Department of Health Care Services.
Benefits of a Statewide Open Data Portal in California. A March
2015 report by the Milken Institute California Center titled,
"Open Data in California: Why the State Needs a Unified Strategy
for Public Information," stated that California could benefit
from the implementation of a statewide open data portal in three
major ways.
The first is that such a statewide open data portal would
increase government transparency. Currently, the Milken
Institute argues, when individuals, such as researchers,
journalist, or other interested parties attempt to collect
information about government expenditures, they often find vague
or outdated information about how their tax dollars are spent.
The establishment of a statewide open data portal would
encourage citizen engagement and intellectual curiosity.
Secondly, the Milken Institute argues that implementing a
statewide open data policy that requires participation by all
agencies has the potential to significantly streamline the
permitting process and reduce workloads across all agencies. In
other words, by having the data publicly available in a
centralized location, individuals would no longer be required to
call each particular agency and in turn that agency would not
need to take time to collect that data.
Finally, the Milken Institute argues that such an open data
portal would create economic development by providing huge
amounts of data to would-be entrepreneurs. California is
perfectly placed to take advantage of an open data portal due to
the tech hubs such as Silicon Valley. Entrepreneurs could
easily use data that is freely available to create the next
great program and/or app.
Prior/Related Legislation
AB 1215 (Ting, 2015) requires the Governor to appoint a CDO and
requires the CDO to work with state agencies and experts to
create a California Open Data Standard and a centralized
Internet web portal for the public to access public data from
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state agencies. (Held in Assembly Appropriations Committee)
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.: Yes Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, annual
staffing costs of approximately $293,000 annually for an
appointed Chief Data Officer and one data liaison. Costs to
create a statewide open data portal could be as low as $125,000
to update the existing data.ca.gov website, or approximately
$234,000 for the Department of Technology to create the portal.
Ongoing costs for maintenance and hosting could be in the range
of $500,000 to $1 million annually. These operating costs could
eventually be spread to participating agencies through the
Office of Technology Services rate structure, but would
initially be from the General Fund.
Unknown costs, potentially in the low millions, for over 200
state entities to appoint a data coordinator, identify data
sets, and create a plan for data publication. Additional cost
pressures, potentially in the millions, for over 200 agencies to
post available data. Actual costs upon full implementation
would vary among state agencies depending on each entity's
function and inventory of public data. For illustrative
purposes, the Office of Statewide Planning and Development will
spend approximately $220,000 this year on its open data project.
Smaller state entities with limited public data sets would
likely incur expenditures in the tens of thousands annually,
while larger agencies are likely to incur costs in the hundreds
of thousands annually.
SUPPORT: (Verified 6/2/15)
Accela
City of Los Angeles
GROW Holdings
Health Officers Association of California
Los Angeles County Business Federation
Milken Institute California Center
Sunlight Foundation
Urban Strategies Council
OPPOSITION: (Verified 6/2/15)
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None received
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: The Health Officers Association of
California (HOAC) states that good data is crucial to good
public policy. A CDO in each agency would help standardize the
state's data policies across all departments, making information
more accessible to California's public health leaders. SB 573
would allow state departments to work together to recognize,
evaluate, and resolve pressing public health concerns.
The Sunlight Foundation argues that provisions envisioned by SB
573 are essential for moving open data forward at the state
level. The Sunlight Foundation further argues that this bill
emphasizes the state's capacity to serve as a platform for open
data across the state by ensuring that the state portal can host
California's open municipal, county, and district data as well,
magnifying the utility of both the portal and the local data it
hosts.
Prepared by:Felipe Lopez / G.O. / (916) 651-1530
6/2/15 21:15:58
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