BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1135
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Date of Hearing: April 24, 2007
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS
Mike Eng, Chair
AB 1135 (Strickland) - As Amended: April 17, 2007
SUBJECT : State government: reports: declarations.
SUMMARY : Requires state agency reports to the Legislature 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 state agency reports to the Legislature 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 agency, elected state officials, 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)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
AB 1135
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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.
"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.
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"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 the state
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 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. Accordingly, it is
unclear how the provisions of this bill requiring accuracy in
state agency reports to the Legislature can be applied to the
Legislature itself.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file.
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Ross Warren / B. & P. / (916) 319-3301