Roger Dickinson
- Democratic
Author
(1) Existing law, the California Public Records Act, requires any public record of a state or local agency to be open to inspection at all times during office hours of the agency and, upon request, a copy shall be made promptly available to any person upon payment of copying costs. The act makes certain records exempt from disclosure. Existing law provides the Public Utilities Commission with regulatory authority over public utilities and authorizes it to establish its own procedures, subject to statutory limitations and constitutional requirements of due process. The Public Utilities Act requires the commission to investigate the cause of all accidents occurring upon the property of any public utility or directly or indirectly arising from or connected with its maintenance or operation, resulting in loss of life or injury to person or property and requiring, in the judgment of the commission, investigation by it, and authorizes the commission to make any order or recommendation with respect to the investigation that it determines to be just and reasonable. This bill would subject to the California Public Records Act, except as specified, an order or recommendation made by the commission and any accident report filed with the commission pursuant to these requirements. (2) The Public Utilities Act prohibits the commission or an officer or employee of the commission from disclosing any information furnished to the commission by a public utility, a subsidiary, an affiliate, or corporation holding a controlling interest in a public utility, unless the information is specifically required to be open to public inspection under the act, except on order of the commission or a commissioner in the course of a hearing or proceeding. A violation of that provision is a crime. This bill would repeal that provision and instead provide that all records of, or information furnished to, the commission are public records that shall be subject to the California Public Records Act, unless exempted from disclosure by that act. The bill would provide that any present or former officer or employee of the commission who divulges any information the disclosure of which is exempted or prohibited pursuant to federal or state law is guilty of a misdemeanor. By expanding the scope of a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
In committee: Held under submission.
Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 4. Noes 0.) (July 3).
From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on JUD. (Ayes 10. Noes 2.) (June 25). Re-referred to Com. on JUD.
In committee: Set, second hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author.
In committee: Set, first hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author.
From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on E., U. & C.
Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 76. Noes 0. Page 4827.)
In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment.
Ordered to third reading.
From consent calendar.
Read second time. Ordered to consent calendar.
From committee: Do pass. To consent calendar. (Ayes 17. Noes 0.) (May 2).
From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 16. Noes 0.) (April 18). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
Read second time and amended.
From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on G.O. (Ayes 14. Noes 0.) (April 9).
From printer. May be heard in committee February 24.
Read first time. To print.
| Bill Text Versions | Format |
|---|---|
| AB1541 | HTML |
| 01/24/12 - Introduced | |
| 04/16/12 - Amended Assembly | |
| 05/24/12 - Amended Senate | |
| 08/06/12 - Amended Senate |
| Document | Format |
|---|---|
| No related documents. |
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