BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1612
Page 1
GOVERNOR'S VETO
AB 1612 (Donnelly)
As Amended May 23, 2014
2/3 vote
ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW 13-0 APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
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|Ayes:|Frazier, Achadjian, |Ayes:|Gatto, Bigelow, |
| |Buchanan, | |Bocanegra, Bradford, Ian |
| |Ian Calderon, Cooley, | |Calderon, Campos, |
| |Gorell, Hagman, | |Donnelly, Eggman, Gomez, |
| |Lowenthal, Medina, Olsen, | |Holden, Jones, Linder, |
| |Quirk-Silva, Salas, | |Pan, Quirk, |
| |Wagner | |Ridley-Thomas, Wagner, |
| | | |Weber |
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ASSEMBLY: 74-0 (May 29, 2014) SENATE:
36-0 (August 11, 2014)
SUMMARY : Prohibits the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) from
charging any fee to individuals with disabilities to enable
access to the California Code of Regulations (CCR) and from
charging for any accessibility option advertised to end users of
its Internet Web site under the "accessibility" link, as
specified.
EXISTING LAW requires the OAL to provide on its Internet Web
site, free of charge, the full text of the CCR including an
index of links to the full text of each regulation, or pending
regulation, filed with the Secretary of State. OAL may contract
with another state agency or a private entity in order to
provide this service.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, on-going loss of up to $600,000 (General Fund) in
forgone revenue from the renegotiation or loss of the service
contract with West Publishing Corporation.
COMMENTS : Currently, OAL has no information technology staff
AB 1612
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and contracts with a private entity, West Publishing
Corporation, to provide the statutorily required public access.
Compensation for the service provided by the private entity
comes from the ability of this entity to charge individuals,
businesses and others for additional services (including
enhanced search functions and notifications of changes or
additions in regulations) based upon the copyright of the CCR
that is held by the State of California.
This bill would prohibit OAL from charging access fees to
individuals with disabilities and to specified end users of its
Internet Web site.
GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE :
"As required by current law, the full text of the California
Code of Regulations is provided online and free of charge at
http://ccr.oal.ca.gov.
"This bill is unnecessary. Any problems with accessibility can
be quickly corrected by the Office of Administrative Law, as
demonstrated earlier this year."
Analysis Prepared by : William Herms / A. & A.R. / (916)
319-3600 FN:
0005609