BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 359|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 359
Author: Romero (D)
Amended: 5/5/09
Vote: 21
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 5-0, 5/12/09
AYES: Corbett, Harman, Florez, Leno, Walters
SUBJECT : Records: disclosure exemptions
SOURCE : California Newspaper Publishers Association
DIGEST : This bill updates the statute within the
California Public Records Act (CPRA) that contains an
alphabetical list of records that are exempt from
disclosure. The bill also requires that a standing
committee of the Legislature introduce a bill at the
beginning of each two-year session, that updates this
alphabetical list of records exempt from disclosure under
the CPRA.
ANALYSIS : Existing law, the California Public Records
Act, governs the disclosure of information collected and
maintained by public agencies. (Gov. Code Sec. 6250 et
seq.) Generally, all public records are open to public
inspection, unless the record requested is exempt from
public disclosure. (Sec. 6254.) A public record may be
exempt from disclosure if it is identified by statute or
pursuant to any other state or federal law that makes a
particular record confidential. (Sec. 6254(k).) There are
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30 general categories of documents or information that are
exempt from disclosure, essentially due to the character of
the information, and unless it is shown that the public's
interest in disclosure outweighs the public's interest in
non-disclosure of the information, the exempt information
may be withheld by the public agency with custody of the
information.
Existing law creates an alphabetical index of the many code
sections that an agency can rely on to justify
non-disclosure of particular records (Sec. 6275 et seq.)
This provision declares the Legislature's intent to, after
January 1, 1999, list and describe each addition or
amendment to a statute that exempts any information
contained in a public record from disclosure. However, the
provision also declares that listing of a statute in this
alphabetical index does not in itself create an exemption.
Existing law, Article 1, Section 3 of the California
Constitution, guarantees the constitutional right of the
public to access public records, favoring transparency,
open disclosure, and the narrow reading of exemptions from
public disclosure provided by statute. As a result, each
statute that exempts records from disclosure contains
findings consistent with Proposition 59. These exemptions
are not necessarily contained within the CPRA, but may be
listed in the alphabetical index.
This bill updates the list of exemptions to the publicly
accessible public records list under the CPRA by adding to
the list or amending existing items on the list.
Existing law does not identify when the alphabetical index
of the records exempt from disclosure must be updated.
This bill requires that, in the first year of each two-year
session of the Legislature, a standing committee of the
Legislature introduce a bill to update the list of
exemptions to the CPRA publicly accessible public records,
in order to assist members of the public and state and
local agencies in identifying those exemptions. This bill
incorporates changes to the list of exemptions that were
enacted during the past several years.
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FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/14/09)
California Newspaper Publishers Association (source)
Office of the Attorney General
California State Association of Counties
League of California Cities
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
since Section 6275 was enacted in 1998, there have been
many exemptions added to the list of exemptions from the
CPRA, but the list has not been kept completely up to date
to reflect all new legislation that makes certain records
confidential. The author writes:
Going forward, the index [in Sec. 6275] could be kept
updated on a [periodic] basis by tracking chaptered
bills that include Proposition 59 findings. Committee
staff could [periodically] request that Legislative
Counsel prepare a bill to update the index. One
suggestion is to make this request in the fall so that
it is based on chaptered bills from the just-completed
session.
Note: While the author and sponsors originally proposed an
annual bill, the latest amendments to the bill reflect the
author's statement above, and a more efficient way of
updating the CPRA exempted documents index under Section
6275.
RJG:nl 5/14/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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