BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1899
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Date of Hearing: March 23, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS
Mary Hayashi, Chair
AB 1899 (Eng) - As Amended: March 15, 2010
SUBJECT : State agencies: information: Internet Web site.
SUMMARY : Requires state agencies, the Department of General
Services (DGS), and the office of the State Chief Information
Officer (OCIO) to post specified audits and contracts to the
state's Reporting Transparency in Government Internet Web site
(Reporting Web site). Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires state agencies to post to the Reporting Web site
every audit of its operations finalized from January 1, 2008,
to December 31, 2010, on or before February 15, 2011.
2)Requires state agencies to post to the Reporting Web site
within 15 calendar days every audit of its operations
finalized on and after January 1, 2011.
3)Requires DGS and OCIO to post any contract awarded by the
state from January 1, 2008 though December 31, 2010, valued at
$5,000 or more, to the Reporting Web site by February 15,
2011.
4)Requires a state agency to post to the Reporting Web site
within 15 calendar days of signing by all parties to the
contract, any contract valued at $5,000 or more awarded on and
after January 1, 2011.
5)Requires the office of the Governor to post every statement of
economic interest and travel and expense report of its staff,
agency secretaries, department heads, and any official under
the direct supervision of the Governor to the Reporting Web
site.
6)Requires DGS and the OCIO to assist state agencies in
complying with the requirements of this bill.
7)States that this bill does not require the posting of
information in an audit, including the identity of any
undisclosed expert consultant, that is confidential pursuant
to a court order, the attorney client privilege, or the
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attorney work product exception; or information that if posted
would jeopardize peace officer safety, criminal intelligence
information, ongoing investigatory activities, or any security
procedure, or any information the disclosure of which is
prohibited by law.
8)States that nothing in this bill should be construed to limit
the rights of the public to access information pursuant to the
California Public Records Act (CPRA). Any information
withheld from posting shall be replaced with the phrase, "CPRA
exemption claimed."
9)Defines "audit" to mean any review or evaluation performed by
a state agency on itself or by another entity, including, but
not limited to, the Bureau of State Audits, the Controller,
the Department of Finance, a federal agency with oversight
responsibility of the operations of the state agency, or any
other nongovernmental organization that monitors or oversees
the state agency and that has received public funds.
10)Makes legislative findings.
EXISTING LAW requires public records to be open to public
inspection, subject to specific exemptions.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
Purpose of this bill . According to the author's office, "AB
1899 mirrors the Governor's existing Executive Order on
transparency and places it in statute, including timelines for
state agencies to post information as required and states that
assistance which is currently being provided by the OCIO and DGS
shall continue in this role. Certain exemptions are made for
posting materials that would violate the current exemptions from
the Public Records Act.
"There is a need for transparency in order for Californians to
have a window on how the State is spending its resources and
conducting the people's business. The OCIO has done a good job
in developing a website that will allow the public to view what
each department spends on contracts, recent audits that have
been conducted and expense forms for personnel. This
information which is completed and kept by individual
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departments has not been readily accessible to the public. This
bill will ensure that an easy to use website that reflects
California's leadership in new technology is guaranteed and does
not depend upon who sits in the Governor's chair."
Background . This bill is based upon the Governor's Executive
Order S-20-09 of 2009, which expanded the Reporting Web site to
include all program reviews, monitoring and accountability
reports, evaluations, inspections, assessments and studies of
audits conducted by agencies, departments and outside entities
dating back to January 1, 2008. Additionally, the Governor
directed all agencies and departments to provide access to these
documents by ensuring all documents are posted to the Reporting
Web site no later than five working days after completion.
Related legislation . AB 756 (Eng) of 2009 required a state
agency to provide a link to a centrally located and accessible
state-run Internet Web site that includes a list of the personal
services and consulting services contracts entered into by the
agency. Additionally, the bill required the Director of DGS to
maintain the Internet Web site and to establish the publishing
of the contract listing information. The bill was vetoed by the
Governor, who stated, "While I am supportive of greater
transparency in government, this legislation would be
duplicative of current reporting practices and increases
workload and costs to departments at a time when the state
continues to experience a significant budget shortfall. My
Administration is currently implementing many of the provisions
of this legislation within the existing appropriation of DGS to
increase transparency."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Californians Aware (Co-sponsor)
Service Employees International Union Local 1000 (Co-sponsor)
California Labor Federation
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Rebecca May / B. & P. / (916) 319-3301
AB 1899
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