The drive to digitalize government was evident in the 2015-2016 legislative session that drew to a close Wednesday. Lawmakers sent hundreds bills to the governor for his signature. Gov. Jerry Brown has 30 days to act on the bills. Here is a look at some of the measures related to technology that won lawmakers’ approval:
• The secretary of state received the green light from lawmakers to overhaul its antiquated campaign and lobbying database system, and the project is exempt from the rigorous review required by the Department of Technology for state IT projects. SB 1349 by Sen. Bob Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys, requires only consultation for the development of Cal-Access, a data-driven platform intended to be user-friendly and searchable. Earlier in the year, the Legislature approved $1.8 million in the state budget for the Cal-Access upgrade. The Assembly and Senate approved the bill by unanimous votes.
• Students, parents and others might soon be able to tap into an electronic system that provides information about school and school district performance. AB 2548 by Assemblymember Shirley Weber, D-San Diego, would create a data and reporting system and align state and federal school accountability standards. The Assembly and Senate approved the bill by unanimous votes.
• Seeking to develop a statewide 2-1-1 disaster response network, lawmakers sent Brown legislation that would allow the California Public Utilities Commission to help fund those counties that don’t yet have the service. SB 1212 by Sen. Ben Hueso, D-San Diego, would authorize the CPUC to use up to $1.5 million collected from ratepayers. Twenty-one counties currently lack the service. Senators passed the bill by a 37-1 vote, and the Assembly passed it 79-0.
• A central database that tracks violent deaths in California could help identify trends and help policymakers decide where and how to combat crime. SB 877 by Sen. Richard Pan, D-Sacramento, would require the California Department of Public Health to create and maintain the California Electronic Violent Death Reporting System and post a summary and analysis of the information on its website. The Senate passed the bill by a 29-10 vote, and the Assembly approved it 63-15.
• Ready to include California in the burgeoning driverless car movement, lawmakers approved a bill that would allow the Contra Costa Transportation Authority to conduct a pilot project to test the vehicles. AB 1592 by Assemblymember Susan Bonilla, D-Concord, would allow Contra Costa to test vehicles that aren’t equipped with a steering wheel, a brake pedal, an accelerator or a driver inside the vehicle. Testing must be done at specified locations and at speeds less than 35 miles per hour. The Assembly passed the bill on a 73-3 vote, and the Senate passed it 39-0.
• The California Department of Transportation may soon publicize on its website when highway construction projects could also further broadband deployment. AB 1549 by Assemblymember Jim Wood, D-Healdsburg, would require the department to post the information on its website as way to notify companies and organizations that work on broadband deployment. The final bill did not include a provision that would have required Caltrans to keep an inventory and centralized database of the broadband conduits it owns that are located on state highway rights-of-way. The Assembly and Senate approved the bill by unanimous votes.
• Lawmakers sent Brown legislation intended to make it easier for some of California’s college students to register to vote online. AB 2455 by Assemblymember David Chiu, D-San Francisco, would require the California State University and California Community Colleges to implement a process for students to submit an affidavit of voter registration electronically on the Secretary of State’s website. The University of California system, however, would only be encouraged to develop an electronic voter registration platform. The Assembly voted 55-24 for the bill, and the Senate voted 26-12.
• The CPUC could continue to award grants and financing to broadband projects at underserved public housing entities for an additional four years. SB 745 by Sen. Ben Hueso, D-San Diego, seeks to improve broadband access to public housing in an effort to bridge the state’s digital divide. Funds collected in the California Advanced Services Fund could be tapped until December 2020. The program is slated to expire this year. The Senate approved the bill 28-10 while the Assembly approved it 54-26.
• Getting a copy of a birth certificate could become easier in California. AB 2636 by Assemblymembers Eric Linder, R-Corona, and Matt Dababneh, D-Encino, would permit county registrar/recorders and California state officials to accept electronic verification of identity when constituents request a certified copy of a birth, death or marriage record. The Senate and Assembly approved the bill with unanimous votes.
• Lawmakers endorsed legislation that would require the California Department of Justice to convert incident-based crime data and statistics to digital data sets, showing valuable criminal justice data in a format supporters hope will increase transparency and accountability. AB 2524 by Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin, D-Thousand Oaks, would require Justice to present the digital data sets on its website at least once a year. Among the information to reported by local law enforcement are instances were a peace officer shoots a civilian or uses force against a civilian that results in serious injury or death. The Assembly and Senate unanimously approved the bill.
• Seeking to combat fraudulent claims, lawmakers moved to exempt vendor identification numbers from the California Public Records Act. SB 441 by Sen. Lois Wolk, D-Solano, would make confidential an ID number or other unique code used by public agencies to identify a vendor. Wolk introduced the bill after a criminal attempt was made to intercept payments sent by the city of Dixon to a vendor. The Senate and Assembly approved the bill with unanimous votes.
• Lawmakers unanimously approved legislation intended to make it easier for the public to find the meeting agendas of their local city and county boards. Beginning Jan. 1, 2019, AB 2257 by Assemblymember Brian Maienschein, R-San Diego, would require a legislative body of a city, county, special district, school district or political subdivision to prominently post the agenda on its primary website. Supporters say the agendas are often buried in agency websites and hard to find. The bill requires the agenda must be “retrievable, downloadable, indexable, and electronically searchable by commonly used Internet search applications.” The Senate and Assembly approved the bill with unanimous votes.
• Lawmakers have proposed expanding the pool of eligible small businesses for contract and procurement purposes in an effort to encourage more competition and help bidders “amass the capital and expertise necessary.” SB 1176 by Sens. Cathleen Galgiani, D-Stockton, and Ben Hueso, D-San Diego, would increase the definition of a small business as one that has no more than $15 million in annual gross receipts. The cap is currently $10 million. It also would increase the maximum limit for so-called "microbusinesses" from $2.5 million to $5 million and create a new category of small businesses at $25 million for firms seeking public works contracts. The Senate and Assembly approved the bill with unanimous votes.
• The Department of Water Resources would be required to build a statewide water information system and present the data on a public website by 2020. AB 1755 by Assemblymember Bill Dodd, D-Napa, would put into one place the numerous data sets collected by local, state and federal agencies in an attempt to better inform policy makers about California’s water resources. The Senate and Assembly approved the bill with unanimous votes.
The governor has already signed the following measures:
• Candidates running for local nonpartisan elective office will be allowed to prepare a written candidate's statement for electronic distribution instead of paying to be included in the voter’s pamphlet that accompanies sample ballots. AB 2010 by Assemblymember Sebastian Ridley-Thomas, D-Los Angeles, is intended to help lower the fee candidates must pay to cities and counties to offset the cost of printing and mailing of paper-based voter pamphlets. The Senate and Assembly approved the bill with unanimous votes.• The use of digital signatures in California state government is likely to become more widespread. AB 2296 by Assemblymember Evan Low, D-Campbell, clarifies which electronic signature technologies are legally permissible. Supporters say the measure will enable government to provide services to the public and transact business “with increased efficiency, cost savings, convenience and paper reduction." The Senate and Assembly approved the bill with unanimous votes.
Reporting from Matt Williams contributed to this story
