California transparency legislation

Sunshine Laws

How to Make Records Requests

Sunshine Litigation

Sorted by State, Year and Topic

Sunshine Nuances

Deliberative Process Exemption

This article is outside of Ballotpedia's coverage scope and does not receive scheduled updates. If you would like to help our coverage scope grow, consider donating to Ballotpedia.

This page covers legislation related to transparency in government proposed in California.

2009

• Senate Bill 106 sought to add school districts, community college districts, and county boards of education to the definition of a local agency whose officials must receive ethics training on subjects such as open records laws. The bill was introduced on March 4, 2009. The bill did not advance beyond committee.

• Senate Bill 218 sought to make the records of nonprofit organizations associated with state agencies and universities subject to the Open Records law. The bill was sponsored by state Sen. Leland Yee (D). The bill was passed by the state legislature in September and was vetoed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) on October 11, 2009.

• Senate Bill 502 would have required state agencies and departments to develop a searchable web site relating to the expenditures of state funds. The bill did not advance beyond the Senate's Governmental Organization Committee.

• Senate Bill 719 would have required state agencies and departments to develop and maintain a searchable web site that included information relating to expenditures of state funds like contract grants, purchase orders, subcontracts, tax refunds, rebates, and credits. The bill did not advance beyond the Senate's Appropriations Committee.

• Assembly Bill 400, sponsored by Assemblyman Kevin de León (D), would require public disclosure of state spending by all departments. It was referred to the Committee on Appropriations in April of 2009 and became law on October 11, 2009.

• Assembly Bill 520 would have allowed superior courts to issue protective orders limiting the number and scope of requests a person can make under the California Public Records Act if the court determined that the requester was seeking the records for an "improper purpose," like, but not limited to, harassing employees of state agencies. The bill did not advance beyond committee.
  • The California Newspapers Publishers Association wrote a letter to Assemblywoman Wilmer Carter (D) expressing its opposition to the bill, saying: "public access decisions must be made based on the law's presumption of access" and that "agencies must never be allowed to determine whether or not to comply with a request based on whether the request is for a use approved by the agency (i.e., a good use)."

• Assembly Bill 1194 would have required state agencies and departments to develop and maintain a searchable website that included information relating to expenditures of state funds. The bill was referred to the Business and Professions Committee in April of 2009. It did not advance beyond committee.