BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1135
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 10, 2007
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS
Mike Eng, Chair
AB 1135 (Strickland) - As Introduced: February 23, 2007
SUBJECT : State government: reports: declarations.
SUMMARY : Requires reports to the Legislature by every state or
local government agency, school district, or special district,
and specified reports submitted to the State Controller by local
governments, to include a signed statement under penalty of
perjury by the head of the agency that the contents of the
report are true, accurate, and complete, to the best of his or
her knowledge. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires reports to the Legislature by every state or local
government agency, or school or special district, to include a
statement signed under penalty of perjury by the head of the
agency that the contents of the report are true, accurate, and
complete, to the best of his or her knowledge.
2)States that the provisions of this bill apply to the head of
every state or local government agency, or school or special
district, including elected officials of state and local
governments, and any official whose duties are prescribed by
the California Constitution, and the executive officers of the
Franchise Tax Board and Board of Equalization.
3)Requires each local agency that has charge of the financial
records, and that is required to submit a report to the State
Controller that identifies all the financial transactions of
the local agency during the fiscal year, to include a
statement signed by the local agency officer under penalty of
perjury that the contents of the report are true, accurate,
and complete, to the best of his or her knowledge.
4)Requires the governing body of each city and county that is
required to submit a report to the State Controller that
identifies the expenditures for street or road purposes during
the preceding fiscal year, to include a statement signed by
the local agency officer under penalty of perjury that the
contents of the report are true, accurate, and complete, to
the best of his or her knowledge.
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5)Requires the operator of a transit district, municipal
operator, transit development board, and transportation
planning agency, that is required to submit a report to the
State Controller that identifies the revenues and expenditures
related to transportation services and projects, to include a
statement signed by the local agency officer under penalty of
perjury that the contents of the report are true, accurate,
and complete, to the best of his or her knowledge.
6)Subjects any person who knowingly declares a false statement
to be true to a civil penalty of up to $20,000. Requires an
action to assess civil penalties to be brought by the Attorney
General.
EXISTING LAW establishes numerous requirements for state and
local government agencies to prepare and submit to the
Legislature, the Governor, and other governmental entities,
written reports on various subject matters of interest to
policymakers and regulatory entities.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : According to the author's office: "This bill would
ensure that all agencies, cities, counties, and the officials in
charge of them are held accountable to the same standards. In
addition, the bill would bring state agency certification in
line with what public companies are already required to do by
federal law - remain accountable to their shareholders in
providing accurate financial information. California taxpayers
are the shareholders in state and local entities. They deserve
the same accountability from the officials appointed to manage
public funds."
This bill contains provisions similar to AB 1625 (Klehs) of
2005, and AB 2404 (Klehs) of 2006, both of which were vetoed by
the Governor. In his veto message of AB 1625, the Governor
stated:
"I absolutely believe that the Legislature, indeed all elected
officials, must base their decisions on information that is
true, accurate, and complete. This bill, requiring legislative
reports to be submitted under penalty of perjury, only applies
to individuals appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the
Senate, and to the executive officer of the Franchise Tax Board
and the executive director of the Board of Equalization.
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"The law already protects against falsified reports to the
Legislature. Department heads must take oaths of office, and
various Government and Penal Code provisions set forth duties,
obligations, and penalties for the accurate and truthful
execution of the operation of state government. Further, the
Legislature may already require individuals appearing before it
to testify under oath, and false testimony is a felony.
"I will consider similar legislation that applies to all written
materials used in the course of legislative deliberations that
applies to any official of the State, elected or appointed by
the Governor, the Legislature or any other constitutional
officer."
In his veto message of AB 2404, the Governor stated:
"Although I agree that the Legislature should base their
decisions on sound information that is true, accurate and
complete, I believe that this bill is the wrong approach. By
requiring that only mandatory reports submitted to the
Legislature and State Controller contain signed statements
attesting to their accuracy, this bill would create an
inconsistent system in which some of the information considered
in the legislative process is subject to declarations of truth,
while the majority of the written material used in the
legislative process is accepted as truth without such
verification.
"The Legislature already has the authority to question the
accuracy of a report by requiring those responsible for
submitting the report to attest to the accuracy of the report
under oath. Given this legislative oversight and the fact that
state law already makes it a misdemeanor for a state or local
official to submit a written report containing false information
to the State Controller, this measure is unnecessary."
AB 1135 appears to partially address the Governor's veto message
by making this bill applicable to elected officials at both the
state and local government level. However, it is unclear what
the Governor is referring to in his veto statements that he
would consider signing legislation that applies the provisions
of the two previous bills to "written materials used in the
course of legislative deliberations that applies to any official
of the State, elected or appointed by the Governor, the
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Legislature or any other constitutional officer." The
provisions of these bills (AB1625 (Klehs), AB 2404 (Klehs), and
this current bill) are related to formal reports submitted by
the Executive branch of government and local governments to the
Legislative branch, not the internal deliberations of either.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file.
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Ross Warren / B. & P. / (916) 319-3301