BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                       



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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                  AB 1899|
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                                 THIRD READING


          Bill No:  AB 1899
          Author:   Eng (D), et al
          Amended:  8/10/10 in Senate
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE GOVERNMENTAL ORG. COMMITTEE  :  7-1, 6/29/10
          AYES:  Wright, Calderon, Florez, Negrete McLeod, Padilla,  
            Price, Yee
          NOES:  Harman
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Denham, Oropeza, Wyland

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE  :  7-4, 8/12/10
          AYES:  Kehoe, Alquist, Corbett, Leno, Price, Wolk, Yee
          NOES:  Ashburn, Emmerson, Walters, Wyland

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  49-27, 6/3/10 - See last page for vote


           SUBJECT  :    State agencies:  information:  Internet Web  
          site

           SOURCE  :     Author


           DIGEST  :    This bill requires state agencies, the  
          Department of General Services and the Office of the Chief  
          Information Officer to post audits and summary data  
          regarding contracts valued at $5,000 or more to the State's  
          Reporting Transparency in Government Internet Web site.

           ANALYSIS  :    Existing law requires public records to be  
          open to public inspection, subject to specific exemptions.
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          This bill:

          1. Requires the Office of the State Chief Information  
             Officer (OCIO) to create and maintain a Reporting  
             Transparency in Government Internet Web site for  
             purposes of this bill and requires the Web site to  
             include instructions for the public on how to obtain  
             more detailed information for a contract.

          2. Exempts certain constitutional officers from the  
             requirement of posting the information to the Reporting  
             Transparency in Government Internet Web site, if that  
             officer posts the required information to his or her    
             official Internet Web site, as specified.

          3. Requires the Department of General Services (DGS) and  
             the OCIO, by February 15, 2011, to post summary data  
             regarding any contract awarded by the state on or after  
             March 31, 2009, valued at $5,000 or more to the state's  
             Reporting Transparency in Government Internet Web site.

          4. Defines "summary data" to include, among other contract  
             characteristics: department name, total price, start and  
             termination dates, supplier name, quantity and  
             description. 

          5. 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.

          6. Requires state agencies, by February 15, 2011, to post  
             all audits of its operations as defined, finalized from  
             January 1, 2008, through December 31, 2010, to the  
             state's Reporting Transparency in Government Web site.

          7. 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.

          8. Requires DGS and the OCIO to assist state agencies in  
             complying with the requirements of this bill.

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          9. Requires the Office of the Governor to post every  
             statement of economic interest and travel expense report  
             of its senior staff and deputies, agency secretaries,  
             and undersecretaries, department heads to the reporting  
             Transparency on Government Internet Web site. 

          10.Includes a provision that information deemed  
             confidential as specified would be exempt from the  
             posting requirements.  Makes it explicit that the  
             exemption is not meant to limit the rights of the public  
             to access information subject to the California Public  
             Records Act (CPRA) and any information withheld from the  
             posting must be replaced with the phrase "CPRA exemption  
             claimed."  

           Governor's Executive Order S-20-09  .  The executive order  
          requires that state agencies and departments post to the  
          Reporting Government Transparency Web site program reviews,  
          monitoring and accountability reports, evaluations,  
          inspections, assessments and studies of their operations  
          dating back to January 1, 2008.  In addition, it requires  
          that agency and department web pages provide easy access to  
          these documents.  Departments and agencies are required to  
          post future documents to the Reporting Government  
          Transparency Web site within 5 working days of  
          finalization.
           
           Governor's Executive Order S-08-09  .  This executive order  
          requires, starting June 19, 2009, DGS and the OCIO ensure  
          that all awarded contracts valued at $5,000 or more dating  
          to March 2009, are placed on the Reporting Government  
          Transparency Internet Web site.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  Yes    
          Local:  No

          According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:

                         Fiscal Impact (in thousands)

           Major Provisions      2010-11     2011-12     2012-13     Fund  

          Informative technology        Minor, initial costs;  

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          unknown future costs          General/
          hardware                                           
          Special*

          Additional workload to        Estimated $100 initially,  
          likely less ongoing                     General/
          post information                                   
          Special*

          * Technology Services Revolving Fund

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  8/16/10)

          California Labor Federation
          California Newspaper Publishers Association
          California Public Interest Research Group
          Californians Aware
          Service Employees International Union, Local 1000

           OPPOSITION  :    (Verified  8/16/10)

          Department of Finance
          Department of General Services

           ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT  :    According to the author's office,  
          this bill intends to mirror the Governor's existing  
          Executive Order on transparency and place it in statute.   
          The author's office contends, "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 author's office is concerned that information which is  
          completed and kept by individual departments is not readily  
          accessible to the public.

           ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION  :    Finance opposes the bill due to  
          the costs of significantly expanding the amount of  
          information to be posted to the reporting Transparency in  
          Government website by requiring the text of state contracts  
          to be posted.  Contracts can be lengthy and contain  
          standard clauses.  This would result in unknown, but  
          potentially significant, costs to implement the bill.   
          Currently the website has a searchable database of all  

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          state contracts.  Information about the vendor, amount,  
          type of contract and term is online.  Interested parties  
          could contact the contracting department for additional  
          information.  
           

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  : 
          AYES:  Ammiano, Arambula, Bass, Beall, Block, Blumenfield,  
            Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles  
            Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Coto, De La Torre, De Leon,  
            Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Galgiani,  
            Hall, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jones,  
            Lieu, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Monning, Nava, V.  
            Manuel Perez, Portantino, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana,  
            Skinner, Solorio, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico,  
            Yamada, John A. Perez
          NOES:  Adams, Anderson, Bill Berryhill, Blakeslee, Conway,  
            Cook, DeVore, Emmerson, Fletcher, Fuller, Gaines,  
            Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Harkey, Jeffries, Knight,  
            Logue, Miller, Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, Norby, Silva,  
            Smyth, Tran, Villines
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Tom Berryhill, Davis, Audra Strickland,  
            Vacancy


          TSM:dok  8/16/10   Senate Floor Analyses 

                         SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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