Store Research
ASSEMBLY BILL 23 (RALPH – 1975)
CHAPTER 1246, STATUTES OF 1975 - AB 23
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As enacted, Assembly Bill 23 amended Government Code sections 6252, 6254, 6257, and 6259; added Government Code sections 6261, 9131, 9132, 12022, 12032; and added a new Article 3.5 to the Government Code designated sections 9070 through 9079, relating to public records. (See Exhibit #1i) This measure was introduced on December 2, 1974 by Assembly members Leon Ralph, as lead author. (See Exhibit #1a) This legislative measure became known as the Legislative Open Records Act. (See Exhibit #1i)
Assembly Bill 23 was assigned to the Assembly Committee Governmental Organization where policy issues raised by the bill were considered. (See Exhibit #3) The fiscal ramifications of the bill were considered by the Assembly Committee on Ways and Means and the Senate Committee on Finance. (See Exhibits #2 and #4) Seven amendments were made to Assembly Bill 23 during the legislative process. (See Exhibits #1b through #1h and #2) Subsequent to legislative approval, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. signed the bill on October 1, 1975, and it was recorded by the Secretary of State on that date as Chapter 1246 of the Statutes of 1975. (See Exhibits #1i and #2)
The Legislative Analyst produced an analysis of Assembly Bill 23 as amended June 17th which summarized the bill as follows: “This bill expands the provisions of the California Public Records Act and establishes the Legislative Open Records Act.” (See Exhibit #6b, page 1)
With more specificity, the Unfinished Business analysis of the bill as last amended that was produced by the Assembly Office of Research stated that:
. . . This bill (1) removes the Governor’s Office exemption from the CPRA with certain exceptions; (2) provides that the courts shall make available for inspection an itemized statement of expenditures; and (3) enacts a separate open records act for the Legislature.”
(See Exhibit #9)