BILL ANALYSIS
SB 359
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 359 (Romero)
As Amended August 20, 2009
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE : 36-0
GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION 17-0
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|Ayes:|Coto, Anderson, Chesbro, | | |
| |Cook, | | |
| |De Leon, Evans, Hall, | | |
| |Hill, Jeffries, Lieu, | | |
| |Mendoza, Nestande, | | |
| |V. Manuel Perez, | | |
| |Portantino, Silva, | | |
| |Torrico, Tran | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Updates the statute within the California Public
Records Act (Act) that contains an alphabetical list of records
that are exempt from disclosure. Also, this bill 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
Act. Specifically , this bill:
1)Provides, under Government Code Section 6276.14, the following
specified exemptions that are applicable to the Division of
Workers' Compensation:
a) Individually identifiable information and residence
address obtained or maintained by the division on workers'
compensation claims, confidentiality of Labor Code Section
138.7.
b) Individually identifiable information of health care
organization patients, confidentiality of Labor Code
Section 4600.5.
c) Individual workers' compensation claim files and
auditor's working papers, confidentiality of Labor Code
Section 129.
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d) Peer review proceedings and employee medical records,
confidentiality of Labor Code Section 4600.6.
2)Double-joints Section 12.5 of this bill with AB 1540 (Assembly
Health Committee) to avoid chaptering issues.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Governs the disclosure of information collected and maintained
by public agencies [Government Code Section 6250 et seq.].
2)Provides that all public records are open to public
inspection, unless the record requested is exempt from public
disclosure [Government Code Section 6254.].
3)Provides that 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
[Government Code Section 6254 (k)].
4)Creates an alphabetical index of the many code sections that
an agency can rely on to justify non-disclosure of particular
records. 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 [Government
Code Section 6275 et seq.].
5)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 [California Constitution Article I, Section
3].
6)Does not identify when the alphabetical index of the records
exempt from disclosure must be updated.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
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COMMENTS : There are 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 nondisclosure of the information, the exempt
information may be withheld by the public agency with custody of
the information.
The Act requires each state and local agency, including a school
district, to make its records available to the public upon
request unless the record is exempt from disclosure. The Act
lists many types of records that are exempt from disclosure and
also provides that a record may be exempt from disclosure
pursuant to any other state or federal law that makes a
particular record confidential.
SB 143 (Kopp), Chapter 620, 1998 Statutes of 1998, added to the
Act an alphabetical index of the many code sections outside the
Act that an agency can rely on to justify nondisclosure of
particular records. The index is a valuable tool for a person
requesting a record and for an agency that is required to
respond to a request for records within 10 days. However, the
index has not been updated in several years to reflect new
legislation that makes certain records confidential.
According to the author, this bill updates the alphabetical
index of other code sections that can provide a basis for non
disclosure of public records under the California Public Records
Act (Act). The author states that this bill does not establish
any new exemption or create any new law. This bill seeks to
update the index to ensure that it remains a valuable tool for
persons requesting records and agencies responding to requests.
Prior legislation: SB 143 (Kopp), Chapter 620, Statutes of
1998, made various changes to the Act including establishing an
index of public records within the Act itself that are exempt
from disclosure under current law that is contained under
various other codes.
AB 2749 (Gaines), Chapter 501, Statutes of 2008, reorganized
sections of the Financial Code relating to the powers of the
Commissioner of the Department of Financial Institutions (DFI)
and makes other technical changes intended to ease
administration of the law by DFI.
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AB 1750 (Committee on Health), Chapter 577, Statutes of 2007,
conformed state law to certain provisions of the federal Deficit
Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA) and the federal False Claims Act
related to Medi-Cal. This law makes various technical and
non-substantive changes in law related to health care service
plans and health insurers, the operations of the Managed Risk
Medical Insurance Board, Native American health, and Proposition
99 programs.
SB 1743 (Bowen), Chapter 689, Statutes of 2006, exempted an
action for name change, filed for the purpose of avoiding
domestic violence or stalking where the petitioner is a victim
of sexual assault, from the requirement for publication for the
order to show cause. Also, this law makes technical
cross-referencing changes in the Evidence Code dealing with
privileged communications between victims and counselors to
correctly refer to the privilege as the counselor-victim
privilege and the counselor as a sexual assault or domestic
violence counselor or human trafficking case worker.
AB 3081 (Committee on Judiciary), Chapter 182, Statutes of 2004,
reorganized civil discovery statutes by dividing the statutes
into short sections grouped in chapters according to subject
matter. Makes conforming changes in cross-references to the
discovery statutes in other code sections.
SB 111 (Knight), Chapter 193, Statutes of 2004, deletes obsolete
reporting requirements and reflected statutory changes that
occurred during the 2003 legislative year.
AB 1298 (Hancock), Chapter 750, Statutes of 2004, exempted
contracts with blood factor manufacturers for the Genetic
Handicapped Person's Programs and the California Children's
Services from disclosure under public records laws.
AB 171 (Cohn), Chapter 424, Statutes of 2003, provided
exemptions from the Act and the Ralph M. Brown Open Meetings Act
for a governing board of a Local Initiative Health Plan to allow
the board to meet in closed session to consider and take action
on matters pertaining to health plan trade secrets, contracts,
and contract negotiations by the health plan with health care
service providers.
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Analysis Prepared by : Rod Brewer / G. O. / (916) 319-2531
FN: 0002071