BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1491
Page 1
Date of Hearing: January 21, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Kevin De Leon, Chair
AB 1491 (V. Manuel Perez) - As Amended: January 13, 2010
Policy Committee: Jobs Vote: 6-0
Judiciary 9-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill requires the Secretary of State (SOS) to investigate
the operational status of its registry of potential women and
minority candidates for corporate boards and to report its
findings to specified legislative policy committees. The
investigation is intended to determine:
1)How many individuals paid fees to the registry between 1999
and 2002, when the registry was maintain at California State
University (CSU), Fullerton.
2)Why the campus discontinued the registry in 2002.
3)What became of the registry database and collected fees.
4)How the registry should be restored to effectuate the
Legislature's original intent in establishing the registry.
FISCAL EFFECT
Since much of the information requested is already known (see
below), the SOS should incur only minor costs to complete the
investigation and report to the Legislature.
COMMENTS
1)Background and Purpose . Legislation enacted in 1993 (SB 545,
Killea) required the SOS to establish a registry of women and
minority candidates available for appointment to corporate
boards of directors. This legislation was intended to assist
companies in their efforts to remedy longstanding inequity in
AB 1491
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corporate governance with respect to board diversity. SB 545
required the registry to be operative by January 1, 1995, and
vested responsibility for subsequently maintaining the
registry with the SOS. The registry was to be
self-supporting, i.e. all costs covered by fees charged to
registry applicants and users. In 1998, however, SB 1652
(Kopp)/Chapter 829) authorized the SOS to offer to each UC and
CSU campus the opportunity to administer and maintain the
registry.
Pursuant to the 1998 legislation, the SOS transferred
responsibility for registry to CSU Fullerton in 1999. The
Registry, however, has not been maintained by CSU Fullerton
for several years. According to information recently provided
to the SOS by the university, there were 59 members in the
registry as of 2002. In 2003, due to insufficient funding,
the university sent letters to each registry participant
informing them that the registry would no longer be
operational. Fees were returned to the participants, and the
registry is no longer available.
2)Concern . Given the apparent eight-year time lag since the
registry was operational and the state's continuing fiscal
crisis, it seems of little use to spend limited resources
looking backward and instead would be better to focus on
reestablishing the registry, providing the Legislature deems
such action to be meritorious. It should be noted that,
because the registry cannot practically be self-supporting,
reestablishing and operating the registry will require a state
subsidy. The Legislature may thus wish to reconsider the
efficacy of this approach for fostering diversity on corporate
boards and whether other approaches should be explored.
Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081