BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2266|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2266
Author: Bradford (D)
Amended: 6/30/10 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 7-0, 6/23/10
AYES: Romero, Huff, Alquist, Emmerson, Liu, Price,
Simitian
NO VOTE RECORDED: Hancock, Wyland
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 71-0, 5/17/10 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : School district preservation and destruction of
records
SOURCE : Los Angeles Unified School District
DIGEST : This bill permits a school district to destroy
original records where a photographic, microfilm, or
electronic copy has been made, if the governing board
certifies that provisions are made to ensure that the
copies of the records meet specified requirements of the
Government Code.
ANALYSIS : Current law authorizes the governing board of
a school district (1) to make photographic, microfilm or
electronic copies of original district records, and (2) to
destroy an original record, but requires, before an
original records is destroyed, that provisions be made for
permanently maintaining the copies in the files of the
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district. Furthermore, current law prohibits the
destruction of an original record that is basic to any
required audit prior to the second July 1st succeeding the
completion of the audit.
Current law requires the State Controller, in consultation
with the Department of Finance, the California Department
of Education, and representatives of specified
organizations, to propose the content of a guide for the
required annual financial and compliance audits of school
districts, offices of county superintendents of schools,
and other local education agencies. Statute further
requires the State Controller to submit the proposed audit
guide to the Education Audit Appeals Panel for review and
possible amendment.
Existing law states legislative recognition of the need to
adopt uniform statewide standards for the purpose of
storing and recording permanent and nonpermanent documents
in electronic media. In addition, existing law requires
the Secretary of State to approve and adopt appropriate
standards for a "trusted system." Defines a "trusted
system" to mean a combination of techniques, policies, and
procedures for which there is no plausible scenario in
which a document retrieved from or reproduced by the system
could differ substantially from the document that is
originally stored.
This bill permits a school district to destroy original
records where a photographic, microfilm, or electronic copy
has been made, if the governing board certifies, in each
fiscal year, that provisions are made to ensure that the
copies of the records meet specified requirements. More
specifically, this bill:
1.Requires school districts to meet two requirements prior
to the destruction of original records as follows:
A. The copies are maintained in a "trusted system,"
as defined in the Government Code.
B. The copies, for purposes of records that are basic
to a required audit, are made in compliance with
standards, policies, or regulations approved and
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adopted by the State Controller.
2.Deletes the requirement that prohibits destroying
original records that are basic to any required audit
prior to two years elapsing from completion of the audit.
3.Specifies the State Controller to work in coordination
with the Secretary of State to develop record and
retention standards, policies, or regulations, consistent
with the applicable use of a "trusted system," that
permits the governing board of a school district,
effective January 1, 2013, to reproduce a record, that is
basic to a required audit, that is a nonerasable optical
image reproduction or any other reproduction of an
original record or document if additions, deletions, or
changes to the original record or document are not
permitted by the technology.
4.Specifies destruction of original records does not
relieve a school district from any requirements in law to
produce an original record that is basic to a required
audit, unless that record can be reproduced from a copy
that was made from the original record.
Comments
Need for the Bill . According to the author's office, as a
result of difficult economic times, school districts around
the state have searched for ways to reduce their operating
budgets - one way is in the use of "trusted systems" of
copying original documents - thereby reducing the need to
maintain, in some instances warehouses of documents,
decreasing non-instruction expenditures, and preserving
documents.
"Trusted System" Will be used in Courts . California, for
purposes of presentations of writings in a court, allows
the admissible use of nonerasable optical image of
reproduction provided that additions, deletion, or changes
to the original document are not permitted by the
technology if the copy or reproduction was made and
preserved as part of the records of a business (which
includes every kind of business, government activity,
professional occupation, calling, or operation of
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institutions, whether carried on for profit or not) in the
regular course of that business.
Further, once the Secretary of State adopts standards and
regulations as defined in Government Code 12168.7,
nonerasable optical image reproductions or any other
reproduction of a public record by a trusted system if
additions, deletions, or changes to the original document
are not permitted by the technology, will be a type of
evidence of a writing as admissible as the writing itself.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/29/10)
Los Angeles Unified School District (source)
OPPOSITION : (Verified 6/29/10)
State Controller's Office (prior version)
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : Proponents argue that various
governmental entities are moving in the direction of
maintaining "trusted systems" of copies to streamline
processes and save money, but to provide a safe, secure and
inexpensive alternative to maintaining original documents
while preserving the validity and authenticity of the
original document.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : According to the State
Controller's Office, government auditing standards related
to evidence and fraud detection require review of original
documents. If this bill were enacted, auditors may be
unable to provide unqualified audit opinions - on the
propriety, validity, and authenticity of fiscal information
- since the audit could not be conducted in accordance with
audit standards. If original documents were not available,
an auditor would have to perform or require school
districts to perform additional procedures to authenticate
copied documents.
Opponents further contend that if original documents are
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not available for audit review, audits may be compromised
and a school district's federal and state funding could be
negatively impacted.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Carter, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto,
Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, DeVore, Emmerson, Eng,
Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Fuller, Gaines,
Galgiani, Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Harkey,
Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jeffries,
Jones, Knight, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma,
Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Nava, Nestande, Niello,
Nielsen, Norby, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Ruskin,
Salas, Saldana, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Audra
Strickland, Swanson, Torres, Torrico, Tran, Villines,
John A. Perez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bass, Tom Berryhill, Caballero, Charles
Calderon, Furutani, Silva, Torlakson, Yamada, Vacancy
CPM:cm 6/29/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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