The California budget package for the coming fiscal year included Assembly Bill 76, a budget trailer bill that would make compliance with certain provisions of the California Public Records Act (CPRA) optional for local agencies. A “budget trailer bill” is a measure carrying substantive law changes to implement the fiscal decisions reached in a particular year’s budget bill. Assembly Bill 76, carried by the Assembly Budget Committee, enacts various provisions to support the 2013 Budget Act.
Under existing California law, CPRA requires state and local agencies to make their public records available to residents upon receipt of a request that reasonably describes an identifiable record not otherwise exempt from disclosure upon the payment of fees to cover costs.
One of the many provisions in Assembly Bill 76 would encourage local agencies to comply with the CPRA merely as “best practices” (i.e., optional best practices) and would require a local agency that determines it will not follow these “best practices” to announce this determination orally at its next regularly scheduled public meeting and then annually.
Assembly Bill 76 stated the following in “Section 118” thereof:
” SEC. 118. The Legislature finds and declares that Section 4 of this act, which adds Section 6252.8 to the Government Code, imposes a limitation on the public’s right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies within the meaning of Section 3 of Article I of the California Constitution. Pursuant to that constitutional provision, the Legislature makes the following findings to demonstrate the interest protected by this limitation and the need for protecting that interest:
The interest being protected is the strong intent of the Legislature in allowing, to the extent possible, local agencies to control the manner in which they perform their public duties, including, but not limited to, the manner in which they comply with the spirit and purpose of the California Public Records Act.” (See Assembly Bill 76, Enrolled, page 106)
Proposed new section 6252.8, which is noted above, would read as follows:
“SEC. 4. Section 6252.8 is added to the Government Code, to read:
6252.8.
(a) Commencing on the effective date of the act adding this section, notwithstanding any other law, any mandates set forth in the following provisions shall not apply to a local agency. Compliance with these provisions shall be at the discretion of the local agency. For local agencies, these provisions represent best practices which they are encouraged, but are not required, to follow:
(1) The requirement in subdivision (c) of Section 6253 that:
(A) Within 10 days from receipt of a request for a copy of records, provide to the person making the request verbal or written notice of the disclosure determination and the reasons for the determination. This activity includes, where applicable:
(i) Drafting, editing, and reviewing a written notice to the person making the request, setting forth the reasons for the determination.
(ii) Obtaining agency head, or his or her designee, approval and signature of a written notice of determination.
(iii) Sending or transmitting the notice to the requestor.
(B) If the 10-day time limit to notify the person making the records request of the disclosure determination is extended due to “unusual circumstances,” as defined by paragraphs (1)through (4), inclusive, of subdivision (c) of Section 6253 of the Government Code, the agency head, or his or her designee, shall provide written notice to the person making the request, setting forth the reasons of the extension and the date on which a determination is expected to be dispatched. This activity includes, where applicable:
(i) Drafting, editing, and reviewing a written notice to the person making the request, setting forth the reasons for the extension of time.
(ii) Obtaining agency head, or his or her designee, approval and signature of the notice of determination or notice of extension.
(iii) Sending or transmitting the notice to the requestor.
(2) Section 6253.1.
(3) Section 6253.9. As on this requirement, the local agency may determine the format of electronic data to be provided in response to a request for information.
(4) Section 6254.3.
(5) Subdivision (b) of Section 6255.
(b) Beginning on January 1, 2014, a local agency that determines that it will not follow these best practices, shall so announce orally at its next regularly scheduled public meeting and annually thereafter at a regularly scheduled public meeting.” -0-
The following provisions of the CPRA were determined to be state-reimbursable mandates: (a) provision of assistance in seeking records; (b) notification of whether the requested records may be disclosed; and (c) removal of home addresses and telephone numbers of employees from records that are disclosed.
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