BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                          AB 206     
Page 1

Date of Hearing:  April 8, 1997 

            ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON CONSUMER PROTECTION,
         GOVERNMENTAL EFFICIENCY, AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
                        Susan Davis, Chair

         AB 206 (Hertzberg) - As Amended:  March 18, 1997

  SUBJECT  :  Requires state agencies to provide complaint forms on  
their web sites

  SUMMARY  :  Requires state agencies that maintain Internet web sites  
to make plain-language complaint forms available on their Internet  
web sites by July 1, 1998, or within six months of establishing a  
web site.  Specifically,  this   bill  :

1) Requires state agencies to allow California residents to  
   register complaints about the performance of the agency  
   electronically via the Internet or by downloading and mailing  
   in the complaint form available on the agency's web site.

2) Requires state agencies to accept complaints against  
   individuals licensed by their agency through either electronic  
   filing of a complaint form via the Internet or mailing in of  
   forms downloaded from the agency's web site.

3) Requires state agencies to notify individuals who call the  
   agencies that i) complaint forms are available on state  
   Internet web sites and ii) public libraries provide free  
   Internet access.

4) Requires state agencies, to the extent feasible, to print their  
   Internet web site addresses in telephone directories.

5) Requires state agencies to respond within an unspecified number  
   of days of receiving a complaint form.

6) Requires the Department of Consumer Affairs (department) to  
   compile the complaint forms from all state agencies and make  
   them available "on the Internet for distribution to public  
   libraries."

7) Requires public libraries, to the extent permitted through  
   donations, to provide Internet access and advertise that they  
   provide this access.

  EXISTING LAW  : 

1) Is silent on the filing of citizen complaints against state  
   agency performance.  According to available information, it  
   appears that most state agencies do not have a formal citizen  
   complaint process.  Rather, most agencies require citizens to  
   write a letter to the agency director.

2) Requires the department to accept and investigate written  
   complaints against licensees of the department.  







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  FISCAL EFFECT  :  Unknown additional costs to most state agencies to  
establish and/or modify a web site to accommodate the specified  
complaint process.  Theses costs would likely exceed several  
hundred thousand dollars annually, 
assuming:  i) the one-time costs of developing complaint forms and  
the on-going costs of maintaining complaint forms on state  
Internet web sites will be a few thousand dollars per agency and  
ii) the on-going costs of increased workload to respond to citizen  
complaints could be in the thousands of dollars for each state  
agency.

  COMMENTS  :

1)  Measure Intended to Make it Easier for Citizens to Register  
   Complaints   Against State Agencies and State Licensees  
   
   According to the author's office, the purpose of this bill is  
   twofold:  i) to make it easier for citizens to communicate with  
   and register complaints about state agencies and individuals  
   licensed by the state and ii) to help state agencies improve  
   response time to citizen complaints.  This bill tries to  
   accomplish this by i) providing citizens another method of  
   registering complaints and ii) requiring state agencies to  
   respond to complaints by an unspecified time period.  

2)  Response Time and Nature of Response Not Specified  

   As amended, the bill does not specify the number of days a  
   state agency has to respond to a complaint received either  
   electronically or by mail on the form specified in the bill.   
   To the extent most agencies already have a complaint process in  
   place, the response time specified in the bill could be a key  
   factor in determining agency cost.  If a period is specified  
   which is shorter than existing response times, significantly  
   higher agency costs are probably involved.  
   
   Additionally, the bill does not specify how detailed an agency  
   response must be.  If agencies are just being required to  
   acknowledge a complaint without providing any other  
   information, the cost of the program may be minimal.  However,  
   if the measure contemplates a more thorough response, it should  
   be amended to reflect that expectation.

3)  Response Options for State Agencies Not Clear  
   
   The bill does not indicate if state agencies can respond  
   electronically via the Internet to citizen complaints  
   registered via web site. Currently, over 100 state agencies  
   maintain web sites or web servers. If one of the bill's goals  
   is to improve state agency response time, then perhaps the bill  
   should be amended to give state agencies the option of  
   responding via the Internet.

4)  Contents of Form Unspecified  








                                                          AB 206     
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   The bill does not specify the contents or format of the  
   complaint form to be used. The state may want to have a uniform  
   form for all agencies. In addition, it may be useful to allow  
   citizens to register not only their complaints but also any  
   comments they may have about a state agency.    

5)  Requirement to Distribute Complaint Forms to Libraries Needs  
   Clarification  

   The bill is not clear on how the department is to make  
   complaint forms available to libraries.  

   Can the department send the forms via electronic transmission  
   to the libraries or is it required to send hard-copy forms?   
   Should the 
distribution of these forms be limited to only those libraries  
that provide Internet access?

6)  Libraries May Have Additional Resources Available  

   As drafted, the bill indicates that libraries are to provide  
   Internet access to the extent permitted through donations.  
   However, libraries may have other resources or other means  
   available to them to provide Internet access.

7)  Should Measure Apply to Non-residents  ?

   As drafted, the bill only applies to residents of the state.  
   However, there are many people who deal with California state  
   agencies who do not reside here.  If the intention of the  
   measure is to cover all complaints, then the bill should be  
   amended to read that all individuals, not just residents of the  
   state, can register their complaints and comments via the  
   Internet.

8)   Technical Amendment Needed  
   
   On Page 2, line 25 of the measure, the bill incorrectly  
   references the date July 1, 19  8  8.  The bill should be amended  
   to correct this date.
   
9)  Double Referral  

   The bill has also been referred to the Committee on Televising  
   the Assembly and Information Technology.

  REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :

  Support  

California Community Colleges (if amended)
Planning and Conservation League

  Opposition  

None on file







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  Analysis prepared by  :  Sailaja Cherukuri / aconpro / (916)  
   324-7440