BILL ANALYSIS
AB 472
Page 1
GOVERNOR'S VETO
AB 472 (Blumenfield)
As Amended August 20, 2009
2/3 vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |77-0 |(May 21, 2009) |SENATE: |33-2 |(September 1, |
| | | | | |2009) |
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|ASSEMBLY: |77-0 |(September 3, | | | |
| | |2009) | | | |
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Original Committee Reference: G.O.
SUMMARY : Requires any state agency, beginning July 1, 2010, to
maintain on its homepage a link that will direct a user to
earthquake and emergency preparedness information for the home
and workplace. Specifically, this bill :
1)States that the California Emergency Management Agency (Cal
EMA), in consultation with the Seismic Safety Commission,
shall have the discretion to create and maintain an Internet
Web page that selected state agencies can link to in order to
gain access to the following:
a) Information regarding earthquake and emergency
preparedness for the home and workplace;
b) Guides and other publications regarding earthquake and
emergency preparedness for the home and workplace; and,
c) Links other Internet resources for earthquake and
emergency preparedness for the home and workplace.
2)Makes legislative findings and declarations.
3)This section becomes effective on July 1, 2010.
AB 472
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The Senate amendments modify the title of the link to make it
specific to the scope of the information provided through the
link to encompass earthquake and emergency preparedness
information for all disasters and require the California
Emergency Management Agency (Cal EMA) to work with the
appropriate agencies in developing the breadth of information
that will be included on the Web site.
EXISTING LAW requires Cal EMA to be responsible for the state's
emergency and disaster response services, and requires state
entities to cooperate with the Cal EMA in carrying out its
duties.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill required any state agency,
department, or commission that publishes an Internet Web site to
prominently display a link on the homepage on their Internet Web
site the phrase "Preparing for Disasters" that connects a user
to the Internet Web page created and maintained by the
California Emergency Management Agency (Cal EMA), in
consultation with the Seismic Safety Commission.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, Cal EMA currently maintains an emergency preparedness
Web site; therefore making any additional workload minor and
absorbable within existing resources.
COMMENTS : According to the author, this bill will help increase
access and exposure to information on earthquake and emergency
preparedness and educate the public on how to be ready in the
event that a catastrophic emergency occur. This bill, as
amended in the Senate, is consistent with Assembly actions.
GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE :
"This bill authorizes the California Emergency Management Agency
to require any state agency that publishes an Internet website
to prominently display a text or graphical link to an earthquake
preparedness website. This measure is unnecessary. Earthquake
preparedness information is readily available on the websites of
the California Emergency Management Agency, the Federal
Emergency Management Agency, and the United States Geological
AB 472
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Survey and is easily discovered by anyone searching it out.
However, to ensure optimal availability of disaster preparedness
information, I am instructing other agencies that respond to
disasters to post links to the California Emergency Management
Agency website."
Analysis Prepared by: Rod Brewer / G. O. / (916) 319-2531
FN: 0003372