TO: Interested Parties
FROM: Kim Alexander, California Voter Foundation
DATE: May 9, 1997
RE: Electronic Filing/Online Disclosure UpdateWe are coming closer to floor votes on electronic filing legislation. If the two remaining bills continue to advance, we can anticipate that the California State Senate and Assembly will be voting on electronic filing by early June. Because electronic filing/online disclosure is still a rather new issue to many lawmakers it is VITAL that they start hearing from their constituents on this matter. If you have not done so already, now is the time to contact your state Senator and Assembly Member and provide them with your input on this issue. You can find contact information for state lawmakers through the State Assembly web site and the State Senate web site. If you're not sure who represents you, there are zip code look-up features on both the Senate and Assembly's web pages. News stories and editorial support is also critical at this time to keep electronic filing moving forward.
This newsletter will provide an update on the status of electronic filing/online disclosure legislation, as well as some details about a new report published by Assemblywoman Elaine Alquist's Information Technology Committee.
SB 49, Karnette
SB 49 by Senator Betty Karnette (D-Long Beach) is set to be heard in the Senate Appropriations Committee on Monday, May 12, at 9:30 a.m., at the State Capitol, Room 4203. The committee is chaired by Senator Pat Johnston (D-Stockton). Like all bills with appropriations greater than $150,000, SB 49 will first be put on the committee's suspense calendar; it is anticipated that the bill will be taken off the suspense calendar and voted on by the Appropriations Committee prior to the May 30 deadline.
Senator Karnette's staff has been working with the FPPC and several software vendors over the past week on the provisions of SB 49. Senator Karnette is also hoping to increase the number of lawmakers who are co-sponsoring this measure, and is requesting other lawmakers to join her in supporting this effort by adding their names to the bill.
The Appropriations hearing will be very brief and deal only with the fiscal issues of SB 49. Secretary of State Bill Jones has revised his cost estimates for the electronic filing system, and SB 49 will be amended to increase the appropriation from $750,000 to $1.1 million. Jones has also recently indicated that he anticipates ongoing annual costs of $218,000. The Governor's Department of Finance will be preparing a fiscal analysis as well, and, given that their cost assessment for last year's electronic filing legislation was around $1 million, there is not expected to be much disagreement on the Secretary of State's estimates.
AB 63, Cunneen
AB 63, by Assemblyman Jim Cunneen (R-Cupertino) was amended last week to remove controversial language that would have made it a crime to use the online donor records to harass or solicit donors. The amendments came at the request of Consumers Union lobbyist Elisa Odabashian and other electronic filing proponents who believe that the harassment language could have a chilling effect on freedom of speech, and prefer to instead remove street names and numbers from the online records as a way to protect donors' privacy (street address info would still be filed, just not visible online).
However, as amended, AB 63 would not only remove the donors' residential street addresses from the online records, but also the donor's city or town, which will make it considerably more difficult to positively identify a donor by using the online records. The language in AB 63 also states that the online records shall not contain the telephone number, personal financial identification numbers, driver's license numbers, or social security numbers of the persons or entity representatives listed on the electronically filed forms. Donors are not currently required to submit any of this data; however, committee treasurers are required to disclose their phone numbers so that people who have questions about the report can contact them. Elisa Odabashian is planning to continue working with Cunneen's staff on these issues, and I will be sure to keep everyone apprised of any new amendments.
SB 7, Kopp
A footnote on SB 7, authored by Senator Quentin Kopp (I-San Francisco); the bill was granted reconsideration by the Senate Elections Committee. This means that, while the bill is dead for this year, it can be moved next year if necessary.
Assemblywoman Alquist's Information Technology Committee Report In late April, Assemblywoman Elaine Alquist released a report entitled, "The $260 Million Dollar Question: Will the State Automated Child Support System (SACSS) ever really work?". The report has received considerable media attention, and last week Assemblywoman Alquist held an informational hearing at the State Capitol. The report raises some serious questions about SACSS and the Governor's Department of Information Technology, which was created to avoid computerization disasters like the one that occurred at the DMV a few years back when it was discovered that the state had sunk almost $50 million into a technology project that would never work. It appears that SACSS is headed down the same road, despite efforts to establish a monitoring system through the Department of Information Technology that would protect against such problems.
The report is important to anyone who is looking at new technology initiatives, such as electronic filing. Ironically, the report is not available online yet, although the committee staff has told me that they are working on putting it up, and it should be available soon through Assemblywoman Alquist's page on the Assembly site. In the meantime, if you would like a hard copy of the report sent to you, contact the committee's secretary, Denise Plants, at (916) 445-4579.
That's all the news for now. Past legislative updates, as well as many more resources about electronic filing, are available through Digital Sunlight at http://www.digitalsunlight.org.
Have a great weekend!
Kim Alexander, Executive Director, California Voter Foundation
cvf@netcom.com
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