The state justice agency will continue its rollout of California’s new landmark privacy law this year, and its funding has been increased in the governor's proposed budget.
At a press conference Jan. 10 to release his proposed Fiscal Year 2020-2021 state budget, Gov. Gavin Newsom confirmed the state Office of the Attorney General (OAG) would get more money if the Legislature approves his budget. (Per the state Constitution, the Legislature must approve a budget by June 15.)
“The attorney general’s budget was enhanced,” Newsom said. But, he noted: “The AG will tell you, as every good AG has going back to Earl Warren … never enough resources.” The governor, however, said his proposed budget does “justice to the Department of Justice.” Among the takeaways:
• Attorney General Xavier Becerra, an independently elected official, oversees the Department of Justice. The DOJ’s budget is, essentially, the OAG’s budget, a spokesperson said. And the DOJ’s proposed budget is more than $1.1 billion, an increase of slightly more than 6 percent from its approved budget of more than $1 billion in the 2019-2020 Fiscal Year budget. DOJ staffing would rise, too, under the proposed budget, to 4,855. That would be an increase of slightly more than 1 percent, from the current complement of 4,789.
The proposed budget highlights some DOJ entities as specifically contributing to fulfilling OAG’s mission. For example, Criminal Law, one of three elements that are part of the Division of Legal Services, “fulfills the Attorney General's responsibilities of assisting district attorneys in cases for which they are recused … ,” according to the budget. Public Rights, a second element, brings actions “in the name of the Attorney General to protect the public.” And at the California Justice Information Services Division, the Hawkins Data Center “provides IT services” for the OAG.
• The proposed budget includes $2.4 million in one-time funds from the Dealers Record of Sale Special Account for initial planning and analysis of a new online system that will aggregate 11 existing legacy firearms IT systems.
In DOJ’s 2018 Armed and Prohibited Persons System (APPS) report to the Legislature, the agency said those systems, which track ownership and related information, are, in at least one case, decades old and complex to maintain. A modification to one may necessitate modifications to multiple others elsewhere, but processes can’t always be incorporated in an automated system — and may have to be done manually.
“Rebuilding the existing systems to work interactively in a way that can be more quickly and easily scaled would allow for future integration of new and changing requirements with minimal fiscal impact and would thus be the most cost-effective solution in the long-term,” DOJ said in the report.
• Newsom is likely well aware of the new data protection initiative being brought forth by San Francisco privacy advocate Alastair Mactaggart, a force behind the California Consumer Privacy Act’s (CCPA) creation. But the governor was coy about making his position known.
Asked by a reporter whether he had a position, Newsom described the complexity of facing multiple issues simultaneously and said: “I do have many positions that I want to share but … at the appropriate time. These are deep conversations.”
Slightly later, he added: “You may know what’s going on the ballot. I’m not as convinced as you may be, and I want to see where we end up.”
• The CCPA became law Jan. 1, but DOJ is still completing final regulations, which will be issued by July 1. Enforcement won’t begin until those final regulations are published. The act applies to businesses with gross annual revenue of more than $25 million; and to those that buy, receive or sell personal information (PI) of 50,000 or more consumers, households, or devices; or that derive 50 percent or more of annual revenue from selling consumers’ PI.
Also per the draft regulations, businesses that handle PI of more than 4 million consumers will face additional record-keeping responsibilities.
