BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2040
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Date of Hearing: April 30, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 2040 (Garcia) - As Introduced: February 20, 2014
Policy Committee: Local
GovernmentVote:7-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
This bill requires local agencies to report to the State
Controller (Controller) additional information about the
compensation of local public officials and to post such
information on their websites. Specifically, this bill:
a)Requires local agencies to include in the information they
report annually to the Controller the annual compensation of a
local agency's public officials, including, but not limited
to, separately listing the name and title of each public
official and his or her monthly salary.
b)Requires a local agency that maintains a website to post the
annual compensation of its public officials in a clear,
visible, and searchable format that includes, but is not
limited to, separately listing the name and title of each
public official, and his or her monthly salary. The
information must be updated at least annually. Allows a local
agency to comply with the requirement in b), above, by posting
on its website a link to the Controller's Government
Compensation in California (GCC) website.
c)Defines "Public Official" to mean every member, officer,
employee or consultant of a state or local government agency
with the exception of some judicial branch and federal
employees.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)First-year costs to the State Controller's Office of
approximately $900,000 (GF) and on-going costs of
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approximately $800,000 (GF) annually.
2)Unknown, but likely major, on-going reimbursable costs to
local agencies to collect and compile the information required
by this bill.
COMMENTS
1)Background . The Controller launched the Government
Compensation in California (GCC) website in response to the
2010 scandal in the City of Bell to promote government
transparency and help prevent such problems from reoccurring.
The website includes information about all employees with
wages reportable on a Federal W-2 form. Data is self-reported
by governments and is not verified by the Controller's Office.
The GCC report is a supplement to the Controller's annual
financial transactions report. These reports are due to the
Controller within 90 or 110 days after their fiscal year end.
Other entities participate voluntarily in the GCC program,
including state agencies, K-12 school districts, courts, the
University of California, the California State University,
community colleges, First Five, and fairs and expos.
The GCC report gathers 12 items of information about annual
compensation from cities, counties and special districts each
year. This bill requires local agencies to report an
additional eight items for all public officials, including all
staff.
2)Opposition . Numerous local agency associations are opposed to
this bill due to what they describe as costly and
administrative compliance burdens, particularly regarding the
collection and calculation of monthly figures.
Analysis Prepared by : Jennifer Swenson / APPR. / (916)
319-2081
AB 2040
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