BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1946
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Date of Hearing: April 26, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON RULES
Nancy Skinner, Chair
AB 1946 (Grove) - As Introduced: February 23, 2012
SUBJECT : Legislative records.
SUMMARY : Amends the Legislative Open Records Act (LORA) to add
a presumption in favor of public access to legislative records
and to add a provision declaring that nothing in the LORA shall
be deemed to exempt from disclosure a record that reflects the
approved budget allocation for a Member or the Member's office.
EXISTING LAW requires legislative records, as defined, to be
open to public inspection unless the record is exempt from
disclosure under the Legislative Open Records Act.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Author's Statement of Purpose : According to the author's
office, the bill seeks to incorporate "a statement of maximum
disclosure of the conduct of government operations when it
considers the release of records to the public - just as other
California legislative bodies do under the California Public
Records Act."
2)Background : In 2011, the Assembly, following 35 years of
legislative interpretation of the LORA, denied a request from
two newspapers for numerous records related to the Assembly's
internal budgeting practices. The newspapers sued the
Assembly; and, in December 2011, the Sacramento County
Superior Court issued a ruling with a different interpretation
of the LORA. The Speaker made the decision not to appeal the
case and directed staff to expeditiously comply, which has
been done.
3)Comparison with Other State Agencies : The author indicates
that it is her intent to enact disclosure provisions
comparable to other state agencies, citing the California
Public Records Act (CPRA). The CPRA does not contain any
reference to the presumption the author seeks to add. The
CPRA does include a provision declaring that "access to
AB 1946
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information concerning the conduct of the people's business is
a fundamental and necessary right of every person in this
state," but the LORA already has that same language as well.
4)Budget Allocations : The bill adds a section to the LORA
stating that nothing in the LORA shall be deemed to exempt
from mandatory disclosure a record that reflects the approved
budget allocation for a Member of the Legislature or the
Member's office. As noted above, these records have been
disclosed by the Assembly since the court's order. The author
may also wish to clarify that this provision includes
assignments of staff to a particular Member, regardless of
whether that assignment results in a budget augmentation for
the Member or a change in classification for the staff.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association
Kevin Dayton, Labor Issues Solutions, LLC
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Diane Griffiths/ RLS. / (916) 319-2800