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ASSEMBLY BILL 1980 (BAGLEY – 1980)

CHAPTER 575, STATUTES OF 1980 - AB 1980

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Government Code sections 6250, 6252, 6256 and 6258, and Labor Code section 6319, relating to public records, was amended in 1970 following legislative passage of Assembly Bill 1980.  (See Exhibit #1d)  This bill was introduced on April 1, 1970 by Assembly member William Bagley, as lead author, for the Special Committee on Statewide Information Policy, on which Assembly member Bagley served as chair at this time.  (See Exhibits #1a and #4, document SP-1)

 

Assembly Bill 1980 was assigned to the Assembly and Senate Committees on Governmental Organization where policy issues raised by the bill were considered.  (See Exhibits #2 and #3)  Two amendments were made to Assembly Bill 1980.  (See Exhibits #1b and #1c)  Subsequent to legislative approval, Governor Ronald Reagan signed the bill on July 31, 1970, and it was recorded by the Secretary of State on that day as Chapter 575 of the Statutes of 1970.  (See Exhibits #1d and #2)

 

The Committee on Governmental Organization analysis of Assembly Bill 1980 noted that the bill was the result of Interim Hearings by the Assembly Special Committee on Statewide Information Policy and was supported by the American Civil Liberties Union and the California Newspaper Publishers’ Association.  (See Exhibit #3)  We did an extensive search for documents from the Assembly Special Committee on Statewide Information Policy, but we were not able to locate any publications for this committee after 1970.  Checking the Assembly Journal from 1975 through 1980, we did not see any title resembling this committee in the lists of legislative committees (standing, sub-, select, joint, special, ad hoc).  For the American Civil Liberties Union, we located a Civil Liberties Review article that we include herewith.  (See Exhibit #9) 

 

Assembly member Bagley in his letter to the Governor described his bill amending the provisions of the 1968 Public Records Act as follows:

 

AB 1980 makes various minor technical changes in the 1968 Public Records Act which have been necessitated by questions arising from judicial proceedings where the At was in issue.  There has been no opposition to this measure because it does not substantially alter existing law, but rather merely clarifies several parts of the 1968 Public Records Act.

(See Exhibit #6, document PE-10)