BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 1135
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   May 9, 2007

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                  Mark Leno, Chair

                 AB 1135 (Strickland) - As Amended:  April 17, 2007 

          Policy Committee:                              Business and  
          Professions  Vote:                            8-1

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:               

           SUMMARY  

          This bill:

          1)Requires every report submitted to the Legislature by any  
            state agency or department to include a statement signed by  
            the head of the agency or department that the contents of the  
            report are true, accurate, and complete, to the best of their  
            knowledge. 

          2)States that (1) applies to the executive officers of the  
            Franchise Tax Board and Board of Equalization, to elected  
            state officials and any official whose duties are prescribed  
            by the California Constitution.

          3)Makes anyone violating the above liable for a civil penalty of  
            up to $20,000 in an action brought by the Attorney General.
                                       
           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Potential, likely minor, absorbable costs to the Attorney  
          General for investigation and prosecution, offset to some extent  
          by fine revenue.

           COMMENTS  

           1)Purpose  . According to the author's office, this bill is  
            intended to ensure that all state agencies 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  








                                                                  AB 1135
                                                                  Page  2

            providing accurate financial information." 

           2)Prior Legislation  . This bill is similar to AB 2404 (Klehs) of  
            2006 and AB 1625 (Klehs) of 2005, which were both vetoed by  
            the governor. In his veto of AB 2404, the governor stated,  
            "?this bill would create and 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?this bill is unnecessary." 

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081