After a slew of organizations representing journalists and government watchdogs opposed a bill looking to gut the state’s public records law, the lawmaker who authored the proposed law is backing down, according to her chief of staff.
Assemblymember Blanca Pacheco’s AB 1821, in its most recent form, outlined changes to the California Public Records Act that would allow agencies to take people to court if they suspect a request is “malicious” or charge requesters $88 per hour if the records are for a “commercial use.”
The outlined changes would have gutted the state public records law that protects journalists’ and ordinary people’s right to access public records and documents held by the government — usually at no charge or a minimal cost.
[Read: Is California’s Public Records Law About to Get Gutted?]
Pacheco’s Chief of Staff Nikki Johnson confirmed in a Thursday afternoon phone call that the bill is slated to revert back to a previous version that doesn’t include many of the proposed changes that were being strongly opposed by organizations like the First Amendment Coalition.
Johnson said after conversations with colleagues and “for a number of reasons” the bill will be reverting back to the version that was heard by the Assembly Judiciary Committee.
That version makes minimal changes to the state’s public records law, changing the initial response time for agencies from 10 calendar days to 10 business days.
It also outlines “unusual circumstances” that would allow agencies to extend response times by an additional 14 business days.
The news comes ahead of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s scheduled review of the bill during a hearing on June 30.
Johnson said it was never the assemblymember’s intention to negatively affect people’s rights to ask for records.
Pacheco’s office said the bill was originally meant to prevent frivolous records requests from overwhelming local governments, especially requests generated by artificial intelligence.
Angelina Hicks is the Voice of OC Collegiate News Service Editor. Contact her at ahicks@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @angelinahicks13.
