Store Research
Assembly Bill 1316 (Bustamante – 1995)
Chapter 458, Statutes of 1995 - AB 1316
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Civil Code section 1725 and former Civil Code section 1747.8, the precursor to current Civil Code section 1747.08, were amended in 1995 following legislative passage of Assembly Bill 1316, which affected these two sections only. (See Exhibit #1f) Assembly member Cruz Bustamante introduced the measure on February 23, 1995 at the request of the California Retailers Association. (See Exhibits #1a and #4, document AP-9)
Assembly Bill 1316 was assigned to the Assembly Committee on Judiciary where policy issues raised by the bill were considered. (See Exhibit #3) The Assembly amended the bill on April 20 and May 16, 1995. (See Exhibits #1b, #1c, and #2) Assembly Bill 1316 was approved by the Assembly and forwarded to the Senate on May 22, 1995. (See Exhibit #2)
While in the Senate, the Senate Committee on Judiciary considered the policy issues raised by the bill. (See Exhibit #5) Two amendments were made to Assembly Bill 1316 by the Senate, on June 22 and July 18, 1995. (See Exhibits #1d, #1e, and #2) The Senate thereafter approved the bill and returned it to the Assembly. (See Exhibit #2)
The Assembly approved the Senate amendments and forwarded Assembly Bill 1316 to Governor Pete Wilson, who signed the bill on September 2, 1995. (See Exhibits #1f and #2) The Secretary of State recorded the measure as Chapter 458, Statutes of 1995. (Id.)
A description of Assembly Bill 1316 was provided in the Third Reading analysis prepared by the Office of Senate Floor Analyses which stated that “[t]his bill makes various technical and clarifying changes to the statutes governing the request of personal information by retailers.” (See Exhibit #7, page 1)
As stated in the Senate Committee on Judiciary analysis, the purpose of Assembly Bill 1316 was “. . . to make some adjustments suggested by retailers to the statutes governing what personal information may be collected by a retailer from a customer paying by check or credit card.” (See Exhibit #5a, page 1)
The analysis of the Assembly Committee on Judiciary discussed the rationale for the sponsor’s request for this legislation, stating:
This bill is sponsored by the California Retailers Association (Association). The Association states that the bill is an “attempt to clarify, better conform the law to common business practices and remove onerous traps from the unwary.” The prohibition against using a credit card form that contains preprinted spaces for personal information creates a problem for national retailers who use multi-purpose forms in multiple states. The Association contends that the existence of space for a customer’s name and address, even when not filled in, has subjected their members to “class action lawsuits by some lawyers who appear to be methodically going through the retail industry for this unintended violation of the statute.”
Relative to personal information on credit card transaction forms, the Association states that this bill will enable merchants to meet the federal requirement to obtain and keep on file the names and addresses of consumers who purchase certain electronic items such as microwaves and computer monitors. Further, this bill will allow verification of a consumer’s identity when an item is charged to a credit card but the consumer is not in possession of the card.
(See Exhibit #3, pages 2 and 3)