The California Constitution requires the Governor to submit a budget for the ensuing fiscal year to the Legislature within the first 10 days of each regular session. Existing law requires that budget to contain a complete plan and itemized statement of all proposed expenditures of the state provided by existing law or recommended by the Governor, and of all estimated revenues, as specified. Existing law requires the budget to be prepared in a specified manner.

This bill would require the Department of Finance to make available on the home page of its internet website access to the Governors Budget in an electronic machine readable format.

Existing law provides that it is the policy of the State of California to make freely available to its inhabitants all state publications. To effectively carry out that policy, subject to availability of the necessary resources, existing law authorizes the California State Library to create a digital repository and delivery system to maintain and preserve copies of publications in electronic format for ready access to the public. Existing law authorizes each state agency to provide digital publications to the California State Library in an appropriate electronic format as specified by the California State Library. Existing law requires the California State Library to determine the appropriate electronic format and authorizes the California State Library to consult with the State Archivist.

This bill would additionally require, at a minimum, the electronic format determined by the California State Library to be a machine readable format.

The California Constitution requires the Governor to submit a budget for the ensuing fiscal year to the Legislature within the first 10 days of each regular session. Existing law requires that budget to contain a complete plan and itemized statement of all proposed expenditures of the state provided by existing law or recommended by the Governor, and of all estimated revenues, as specified. Existing law requires the budget to be prepared in a specified manner.

This bill would require the Department of Finance to make available on the home page of its internet website access to the Governors Budget in an electronic machine readable format.

Existing law provides that it is the policy of the State of California to make freely available to its inhabitants all state publications. To effectively carry out that policy, subject to availability of the necessary resources, existing law authorizes the California State Library to create a digital repository and delivery system to maintain and preserve copies of publications in electronic format for ready access to the public. Existing law authorizes each state agency to provide digital publications to the California State Library in an appropriate electronic format as specified by the California State Library. Existing law requires the California State Library to determine the appropriate electronic format and authorizes the California State Library to consult with the State Archivist.

This bill would additionally require, at a minimum, the electronic format determined by the California State Library to be a machine readable format.

The California Constitution requires the Governor to submit a budget for the ensuing fiscal year to the Legislature within the first 10 days of each regular session. Existing law requires that budget to contain a complete plan and itemized statement of all proposed expenditures of the state provided by existing law or recommended by the Governor, and of all estimated revenues, as specified. Existing law requires the budget to be prepared in a specified manner.

This bill would require the budget to be made available, on or before January 1, 2026, on the Department of Finance internet website in a machine readable format. The bill would require the budget for each budget year to be posted and maintained on the internet website for a period of at least 10 years following the release of that budget. Department of Finance to make available on the home page of its internet website access to the Governors Budget in an electronic machine readable format.

Existing law provides that it is the policy of the State of California to make freely available to its inhabitants all state publications. To effectively carry out that policy, subject to availability of the necessary resources, existing law authorizes the California State Library to create a digital repository and delivery system to maintain and preserve copies of publications in electronic format for ready access to the public. Existing law authorizes each state agency to provide digital publications to the California State Library in an appropriate electronic format as specified by the California State Library. Existing law requires the California State Library to determine the appropriate electronic format and authorizes the California State Library to consult with the State Archivist.

This bill would additionally require, at a minimum, the electronic format determined by the California State Library to be a machine readable format.

The California Constitution requires the Governor to submit a budget for the ensuing fiscal year to the Legislature within the first 10 days of each regular session. Existing law requires that budget to contain a complete plan and itemized statement of all proposed expenditures of the state provided by existing law or recommended by the Governor, and of all estimated revenues, as specified. Existing law requires the budget to be prepared in a specified manner.

This bill would require the budget to be made available, on or before January 1, 2026, on the Department of Finance internet website in a machine readable format. The bill would require the budget for each budget year to be posted and maintained on the internet website for a period of at least 10 years following the release of that budget.

Existing law provides that it is the policy of the State of California to make freely available to its inhabitants all state publications. To effectively carry out that policy, subject to availability of the necessary resources, existing law authorizes the California State Library to create a digital repository and delivery system to maintain and preserve copies of publications in electronic format for ready access to the public. Existing law authorizes each state agency to provide digital publications to the California State Library in an appropriate electronic format as specified by the California State Library. Existing law requires the California State Library to determine the appropriate electronic format and authorizes the California State Library to consult with the State Archivist.

This bill would additionally require, at a minimum, the electronic format determined by the California State Library to be a machine readable format.

SENATE THIRD READING

STR Bill Id:SB 978

Author:(Seyarto)

As Amended Ver:May 16, 2024

Majority vote

SUMMARY

This bill requires the Department of Finance (DOF) and California State Library (CSL) to ensure certain electronic information is available in a machine readable format.

Major Provisions

1) Requires DOF to make available on the home page of its internet website access to the Governor's Budget in an electronic machine readable format.

2) Provides the CSL shall determine the appropriate electronic format and may consult with the State Archivist. At a minimum, the electronic format shall be a machine readable format.

3) Makes technical and conforming changes.

COMMENTS

Background.

Budget Archiving. DOF currently maintains the Governor’s Budget (GB), May Revision (MR), and Enacted Budget (EB) from fiscal years (FY) 2017-18 to present. This bill states that the GB for each budget year be posted maintained on DOF’s website for at least 10 years following the release of that budget.

Open Data. The California Public Records Act requires public records to be open to inspection during office hours and gives every person a right to inspect public records, with specific exceptions. The Public Records Act also specifies procedures for requesting copies of public records. When a person seeks a record in an electronic format, an agency must, upon request, make the information available in any electronic format in which it holds the information, AB 2799 (Shelley, Chapter 982, Statutes of 2000). This information must generally be provided at the actual cost to the agency of producing the record.

In recent years, computer technology has advanced to allow electronic documents to be searched and indexed electronically. This searchability is enhanced by posting documents and other data in “open format,” meaning one that is: (1) made available to the public without restrictions that would impede the reuse of that information; (2) platform independent, meaning that the information can be accessed regardless of the type of operating system employed by a user; and (3) machine readable, meaning that the information can be processed and understood by a computer. Some common formats for government documents are often not machine readable. For example, government reports or other data may be posted in PDF format, but this format may simply be an image of a physical document, making the underlying data inaccessible to a computer program.

Machine Readable Format. Advances in computer technology enable electronic searching and indexing of machine readable documents. According to resources.data.gov, an effort by the federal Office of Management and Budget, National Archives, and General Services Administration, machine readable refers to information or data in a format that can be easily processed by a computer without human intervention, while ensuring no semantic meaning is lost. Some common formats for government documents, such as portable document format (PDF), may not always be machine readable (for example, if the PDF is a photo image of a physical document). This bill requires DOF to make the Governor's Budget available in an electronic machine readable format and specifies publications submitted by other state agencies to CSL's digital repository must also be machine readable.

According to the Author

According to the author, "as the fifth biggest economy in the world, California’s several hundred billion dollar budget process is difficult to follow for legislative experts, much less taxpayers. SB 978 will move California forward towards greater transparency in the budget process and historical documentation by requiring the Governor’s Budget and Documents at the State Library be machine readable.

Arguments in Support

None on file

Arguments in Opposition

None on file

FISCAL COMMENTS

According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee analysis,

1. "Costs of an unknown, but potentially significant, amount to DOF to provide the Governor's Budget in a machine readable format, dependent on whether the electronic budget format currently used by DOF is deemed “machine readable” (General Fund). The DOF notes the budget tables available on its website are already downloadable as comma-separated values (CSV) files, but this bill does not provide a definition for "machine readable." To the extent DOF’s current materials do not meet this bill's criteria, DOF would incur additional information technology costs to update documents related to the Governor's Budget, as well as the May Revision and enacted budget.
2. Negligible costs to CSL, as digital repository publications are voluntarily submitted by other state agencies. Potential GF cost pressures of an unknown amount to other state agencies to provide digital publications in a machine readable format, with the magnitude of cost pressures dependent on whether the electronic format currently used by each agency is deemed "machine readable."

VOTES

SENATE FLOOR: 38-0-2

YES: Alvarado-Gil, Ashby, Atkins, Becker, Blakespear, Bradford, Caballero, Cortese, Dahle, Dodd, Durazo, Eggman, Glazer, Gonzalez, Grove, Hurtado, Jones, Laird, Limón, McGuire, Menjivar, Min, Newman, Nguyen, Niello, Ochoa Bogh, Padilla, Portantino, Roth, Rubio, Seyarto, Skinner, Smallwood-Cuevas, Stern, Umberg, Wahab, Wiener, Wilk

ABS, ABST OR NV: Allen, Archuleta

ASM GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION: 19-0-3

YES: Blanca Rubio, Lackey, Addis, Bains, Bryan, Cervantes, Davies, Dixon, Gabriel, Gipson, Low, McKinnor, Pacheco, Papan, Jim Patterson, Soria, Ta, Valencia, Wallis

ABS, ABST OR NV: Haney, Jones-Sawyer, Ramos

ASM APPROPRIATIONS: 14-0-1

YES: Wicks, Sanchez, Arambula, Bryan, Calderon, Wendy Carrillo, Dixon, Mike Fong, Grayson, Haney, Hart, Pellerin, Ta, Villapudua

ABS, ABST OR NV: Jim Patterson

UPDATED

VERSION: May 16, 2024

CONSULTANT: Eric Johnson / G.O. / (916) 319-2531 FN: 0004080

Date of Hearing: July 2, 2024

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

Buffy Wicks, Chair

SBPCA Bill Id:SB 978

Author:(Seyarto) – As Amended Ver:May 16, 2024

Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: No Reimbursable: No

SUMMARY:

This bill requires the Department of Finance (DOF) and California State Library (CSL) to ensure certain electronic information is available in a machine readable format.

Specifically, this bill:

1. Requires DOF to make the Governor’s Budget available in an electronic machine readable format on the home page of DOF’s website.
2. Provides that the appropriate electronic format for CSL’s digital repository and delivery system of state publications must, at a minimum, be machine readable.

FISCAL EFFECT:

1. Costs of an unknown, but potentially significant, amount to DOF to provide the Governor’s Budget in a machine readable format, dependent on whether the electronic budget format currently used by DOF is deemed “machine readable” (General Fund (GF)). DOF notes the budget tables available on its website are already downloadable as comma-separated values (CSV) files, but this bill does not provide a definition for “machine readable.” To the extent DOF’s current materials do not meet this bill’s criteria, DOF would incur additional information technology costs to update documents related to the Governor’s Budget, as well as the May Revision and enacted budget.
2. Negligible costs to CSL, as digital repository publications are voluntarily submitted by other state agencies. Potential GF cost pressures of an unknown amount to other state agencies to provide digital publications in a machine readable format, with the magnitude of cost pressures dependent on whether the electronic format currently used by each agency is deemed “machine readable.”

According to the Legislative Analyst’s Office, the GF faces a structural deficit in the tens of billions of dollars over the next several fiscal years.

COMMENTS:

1. Purpose. According to the author:

As the fifth biggest economy in the world, California’s several hundred billion dollar budget process is difficult to follow for legislative experts, much less taxpayers. SB 978 will move California forward towards greater transparency in the budget process and historical documentation by requiring the Governor’s Budget and Documents at the State Library be machine readable.

1. Machine Readable Format. Advances in computer technology enable electronic searching and indexing of machine readable documents. According to resources.data.gov, an effort by the federal Office of Management and Budget, National Archives, and General Services Administration, machine readable refers to information or data in a format that can be easily processed by a computer without human intervention, while ensuring no semantic meaning is lost. Some common formats for government documents, such as portable document format (PDF), may not always be machine readable (for example, if the PDF is a photo image of a physical document). This bill requires DOF to make the Governor’s Budget available in an electronic machine readable format and specifies publications submitted by other state agencies to CSL’s digital repository must also be machine readable.
2. Prior Legislation. SB 683 (Stern), of the 2017-18 Legislative Session, would have required the Governor’s Budget be made available on DOF’s website in a downloadable spreadsheet format, such as a CSV file, compatible with a spreadsheet software application widely used at the time of publication. SB 683 was held on the Senate Appropriations Committee’s suspense file.

Analysis Prepared by: Irene Ho / APPR. / (916) 319-2081

Date of Hearing: June 19, 2024

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION

Blanca Rubio, Chair

SBPCA Bill Id:SB 978

Author:(Seyarto) – As Amended Ver:May 16, 2024

SENATE VOTE: 38-0

SUBJECT: State government: budget: state publications: format

SUMMARY: This bill would require the Department of Finance (DOF) to make available on the home page of its internet website access to the Governor’s Budget (GB) in an electronic machine readable format. Additionally, the bill specifies that the California State Library’s (CSL’s) digital repository and delivery system of publications be, at a minimum, in a machine readable format. Specifically, this bill:

1) Requires DOF to make available on the home page of its internet website access to the Governor’s Budget in an electronic machine readable format.

2) Provides the California State Library shall determine the appropriate electronic format and may consult with the State Archivist. At a minimum, the electronic format shall be a machine readable format.

3) Makes technical and conforming changes.

EXISTING LAW:

1) Requires, und the California Constitution, the Governor to submit a budget for the ensuring fiscal year to the Legislature within the first 10 days of each regular session.

2) Requires the budget to contain a complete plan and itemized statement of all proposed expenditures of the state provided by existing law or recommended by the Governor, and of all estimated revenues, as specified.

3) Provides that it is the policy of the State of California to make freely available to its inhabitants all state publications.

4) Authorizes the California State Library to create a digital repository and delivery system to maintain and preserve copies of publications in electronic format for ready access to the public.

5) Authorizes each state agency to provide digital publications to the California State Library in an appropriate electronic format as specified by the California State Library.

6) Requires the California State Library to determine the appropriate electronic format and authorizes the California State Library to consult with the State Archivist.

FISCAL EFFECT: This bill is keyed fiscal by Legislative Counsel.

COMMENTS:

Purpose of the bill. According to the author, “as the fifth biggest economy in the world, California’s several hundred billion dollar budget process is difficult to follow for legislative experts, much less taxpayers. SB 978 will move California forward towards greater transparency in the budget process and historical documentation by requiring the Governor’s Budget and Documents at the State Library be machine readable.”

Background.

California’s budget process. Article IV, Section 12 of the California Constitution requires that the Governor submit a budget containing itemized statements for recommended state expenditures and estimated state revenues to the Legislature within the first 10 days of each calendar year. The Governor’s Budget must also itemize actual expenditures and revenues from the prior budget year and estimated expenditures and revenues for the current budget year.

Generally, the budget process is comprised of many stages. While there are publications and documents which comprise the “Governor’s Budget,” including constitutional and statutory requirements, the GB is not a full reflection of what is necessarily understood to be the State’s budget. The GB is only one of three major fiscal points in time, the other two being the May Revision (MR) and the Enacted Budget (EB).

Budget Archiving. DOF currently maintains the GB, MR, and EB from fiscal years (FY) 2017-18 to present. This bill states that the GB for each budget year be posted maintained on DOF’s website for at least 10 years following the release of that budget.

Open Data. The California Public Records Act requires public records to be open to inspection during office hours and gives every person a right to inspect public records, with specific exceptions. The Public Records Act also specifies procedures for requesting copies of public records. When a person seeks a record in an electronic format, an agency must, upon request, make the information available in any electronic format in which it holds the information, AB 2799 (Shelley, Chapter 982, Statutes of 2000). This information must generally be provided at the actual cost to the agency of producing the record.

In recent years, computer technology has advanced to allow electronic documents to be searched and indexed electronically. This searchability is enhanced by posting documents and other data in “open format,” meaning one that is: (1) made available to the public without restrictions that would impede the reuse of that information; (2) platform independent, meaning that the information can be accessed regardless of the type of operating system employed by a user; and (3) machine readable, meaning that the information can be processed and understood by a computer. Some common formats for government documents are often not machine readable. For example, government reports or other data may be posted in PDF format, but this format may simply be an image of a physical document, making the underlying data inaccessible to a computer program.

The Legislature began considering open data bills in 2015, enacting statutes that (1) require local agencies to create an inventory of their enterprise systems and make it available to the public – SB 272 (Hertzberg, Chapter 795, Statutes of 2015); and (2) establish standards for local agency agendas hosted on websites – AB 2257 (Maienschein, Chapter 265, Statutes of 2016) and any local agency websites that bill themselves as “open data” – AB 169, (Maienschein, Chapter 737, Statutes of 2015). Under these standards, data must be posted in an open format that is:

a) Retrievable, downloadable, indexable, and electronically searchable by commonly used internet search applications.

b) Platform independent and machine readable.

c) Available to the public free of charge and without any restriction that would impede the reuse or redistribution of the public record.

d) Able to retain the data definitions and structure present when the data was compiled, if applicable.

Other transparency efforts have focused on making elections results available in a form that is more easily usable by the public. Specifically, AB 813 of 2013 (Melendez, Chapter 112) required the Secretary of State and all local elections officials to post the results of the election on their internet web sites in a downloadable spreadsheet format that is compatible with widely used software.

Additionally, SB 683 (Stern of 2017) would have required the Governor’s Budget to be machine readable with flexible data entry points. That bill was held in the Senate Appropriations Committee Suspense File. Currently, the Governor’s Budget is available online in HTML or PDF format through the Department of Finance’s eBudget website. These formats may not be easily imported into a spreadsheet application or otherwise used to perform additional calculations on the data by laypersons.

Machine Readable. According to the federal government’s Resources.data.gov, which is an online repository of policies, tools, case studies, and other resources to support data governance, management, exchange, and use throughout the federal government, machine readable refers to information or data that is in a format that can be easily processed by a computer without human intervention while ensuring no semantic meaning is lost. Such documents are distinguished from more general machine-readable data by virtue of having further structure to provide the necessary context to support the business processes for which they are created.

The California State Library Research Bureau reports that California currently has laws containing the term “machine readable” in seven categories across state government. These include:

1. Establish agencies/officers to assist state government in developing machine readable practices. The term machine readable appears in the definition for “open data” in Government Code Section 12815.
2. Machine readable indicia/information on various goods and services sold in or conducted by the State.
3. Machine readable information on a state motor vehicle license or identification card.
4. Machine readable publication of criminal justice data by a state agency.
5. Machine readable publication of miscellaneous local government data and reports.
6. Machine readable publication of miscellaneous state government data and reports.
7. Machine readable tax-related documentation.

The DOF currently posts budget information on its website (ebudget.ca.gov) in a downloadable CSV format, which is a type of machine readable data file format. To the extent that the materials posted to its current budget website are considered machine readable under this bill, DOF notes costs will likely be minor and absorbable within existing resources. However, as the bill doesn’t define “machine readable,” there may be other significant General Fund costs to develop and implement information technology (IT) changes to meet the bill’s mandates.

Prior legislation. SB 598 (Moorlach) of 2019. The bill would have established the Open Financial Statement Commission, within the State Treasurer’s Office, to report to the Legislature regarding how and whether to transition state and local agencies’ financial reporting to a machine readable format, as specified. (Vetoed by Governor Gavin Newsom)

SB 683 (Stern) of 2017. The bill would have required the budget to be made available on DOF’s internet website in a prescribed downloadable spreadsheet format and would have required the budget for each fiscal year be posted and maintained on the site for a period of at least 10 years following the release of that budget. (Senate Appropriations Committee – Held under submission)

AB 434 (Baker), Chapter 780, Statutes of 2017. Requires all state agencies and departments to certify their state entity website meets specified standards by July 1, 2019, and biennially thereafter.

AB 2257 (Maienschein), Chapter 265, Statutes of 2016. Imposes additional requirements for online postings of agendas for the public meetings of specified local agency legislative bodies.

SB 272 (Hertzberg), Chapter 795, Statues of 2015. Requires local governments, with specified exemptions, to catalog, and make publically available, information about their data systems, as specified.

AB 169 (Maienschein), Chapter 737, Statues of 2015. Requires local agencies to use specified open data standards if they maintain an Internet Resource that is described or titled as “open data” and if they choose to post public records on that Internet Resource.

AB 913 (Melendez), Chapter 112, Statues of 2013. Requires the Secretary of State and county elections officials to post on their respective internet websites and to maintain on those sites, for at least 10 years, their certified statement of election results in a downloadable spreadsheet format, as specified, and that is compatible with software widely in use at the time of posting.

AB 2799 (Shelley), Chapter 982, Statutes of 2000. Revised various provisions of the Public Records Act in order to make available public records, not otherwise exempt from disclosure, in an electronic format, if the information or record is kept in electronic format by a public agency.

REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:

Support

None on file

Opposition

None on file

Analysis Prepared by: Eric Johnson / G.O. / (916) 319-2531

 CONSENT  

Bill No: SB 978

Author: Seyarto (R)

Amended: 5/16/24

Vote: 21

SENATE GOVERNMENTAL ORG. COMMITTEE: 16-0, 3/12/24

AYES: Dodd, Wilk, Alvarado-Gil, Archuleta, Ashby, Bradford, Glazer, Jones, Nguyen, Ochoa Bogh, Padilla, Portantino, Roth, Rubio, Seyarto, Smallwood-Cuevas

SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 7-0, 5/16/24

AYES: Caballero, Jones, Ashby, Becker, Bradford, Seyarto, Wahab

SUBJECT: State government: budget: state publications: format

SOURCE: Author

DIGEST:

This bill requires the Department of Finance (DOF) to make available on the home page of its internet website access to the Governor’s Budget in an electronic machine readable format, and requires the California State Library to ensure, at a minimum, that specified electronic documents are available in a machine readable format.

ANALYSIS:

Existing law:

1. Requires, und the California Constitution, the Governor to submit a budget for the ensuring fiscal year to the Legislature within the first 10 days of each regular session.
2. Requires the budget to contain a complete plan and itemized statement of all proposed expenditures of the state provided by existing law or recommended by the Governor, and of all estimated revenues, as specified.
3. Provides that it is the policy of the State of California to make freely available to its inhabitants all state publications.
4. Authorizes the California State Library to create a digital repository and delivery system to maintain and preserve copies of publications in electronic format for ready access to the public.
5. Authorizes each state agency to provide digital publications to the California State Library in an appropriate electronic format as specified by the California State Library.
6. Requires the California State Library to determine the appropriate electronic format and authorizes the California State Library to consult with the State Archivist.

This bill:

1. Requires DOF to make available on the home page of its internet website access to the Governor’s Budget in an electronic machine readable format.
2. Specifies that the appropriate electronic format determined by the California State Library, at a minimum, be a machine readable format.

Background

Author Statement. According to the author:

“as the fifth biggest economy in the world, California’s several hundred billion dollar budget process is difficult to follow for legislative experts, much less taxpayers. SB 978 will move California forward towards greater transparency in the budget process and historical documentation by requiring the Governor’s Budget and Documents at the State Library be machine readable.”

State Budget Process. Article IV, Section 12 of the California Constitution requires that the Governor submit a budget containing itemized statements for recommended state expenditures and estimated state revenues to the Legislature within the first 10 days of each calendar year. The Governor’s Budget must also itemize actual expenditures and revenues from the prior budget year and estimated expenditures and revenues for the current budget year.

Generally, the budget process is comprised of many stages. While there are publications and documents which comprise the “Governor’s Budget,” (GB) including constitutional and statutory requirements, the GB is not a full reflection of what is necessarily understood to be the State’s budget. The GB is only one of three major fiscal points in time, the other two being the May Revision (MR) and the Enacted Budget (EB).

Open Data. The California Public Records Act requires public records to be open to inspection during office hours and gives every person a right to inspect public records, with specific exceptions. The Public Records Act also specifies procedures for requesting copies of public records. When a person seeks a record in an electronic format, an agency must, upon request, make the information available in any electronic format in which it holds the information, AB 2799 (Shelley, Chapter 982, Statutes of 2000). This information must generally be provided at the actual cost to the agency of producing the record.

In recent years, computer technology has advanced to allow electronic documents to be searched and indexed electronically. This searchability is enhanced by posting documents and other data in “open format,” meaning one that is: (1) made available to the public without restrictions that would impede the reuse of that information; (2) platform independent, meaning that the information can be accessed regardless of the type of operating system employed by a user; and (3) machine readable, meaning that the information can be processed and understood by a computer. Some common formats for government documents are often not machine readable. For example, government reports or other data may be posted in PDF format, but this format may simply be an image of a physical document, making the underlying data inaccessible to a computer program.

The Legislature began considering open data bills in 2015, enacting statutes that (1) require local agencies to create an inventory of their enterprise systems and make it available to the public – SB 272 (Hertzberg, Chapter 795, Statutes of 2015); and (2) establish standards for local agency agendas hosted on websites – AB 2257 (Maienschein, Chapter 265, Statutes of 2016) and any local agency websites that bill themselves as “open data” – AB 169, (Maienschein, Chapter 737, Statutes of 2015). Under these standards, data must be posted in an open format that is:

1. Retrievable, downloadable, indexable, and electronically searchable by commonly used internet search applications.
2. Platform independent and machine readable.
3. Available to the public free of charge and without any restriction that would impede the reuse or redistribution of the public record.
4. Able to retain the data definitions and structure present when the data was compiled, if applicable.

Other transparency efforts have focused on making elections results available in a form that is more easily usable by the public. Specifically, AB 813 (Melendez, Chapter 112, Statutes of 2013) requires the Secretary of State and all local elections officials to post the results of the election on their internet web sites in a downloadable spreadsheet format that is compatible with widely used software.

Additionally, SB 683 (Stern, 2017) would have required the Governor’s Budget to be machine readable with flexible data entry points. That bill was held in the Senate Appropriations Committee Suspense File. Currently, the Governor’s Budget is available online in HTML or PDF format through the Department of Finance’s eBudget website. These formats may not be easily imported into a spreadsheet application or otherwise used to perform additional calculations on the data by laypersons.

Machine Readable. According to the federal government’s Resources.data.gov, which is an online repository of policies, tools, case studies, and other resources to support data governance, management, exchange, and use throughout the federal government, machine readable refers to information or data that is in a format that can be easily processed by a computer without human intervention while ensuring no semantic meaning is lost.

The California State Library Research Bureau reports that California currently has laws containing the term “machine readable” in seven categories across state government. These include:

1. Establish agencies/officers to assist state government in developing machine readable practices. The term machine readable appears in the definition for “open data” in Government Code Section 12815.
2. Machine readable indicia/information on various goods and services sold in or conducted by the State.
3. Machine readable information on a state motor vehicle license or identification card.
4. Machine readable publication of criminal justice data by a state agency.
5. Machine readable publication of miscellaneous local government data and reports.
6. Machine readable publication of miscellaneous state government data and reports.
7. Machine readable tax-related documentation.

DOF currently posts budget information on its website (ebudget.ca.gov) in a downloadable CSV format, which is a type of machine readable data file format. To the extent that the materials posted to its current budget website are considered machine readable under this bill, DOF notes costs will likely be minor and absorbable within existing resources. However, as the bill doesn’t define “machine readable,” there may be other significant General Fund costs to develop and implement information technology (IT) changes to meet the bill’s mandates.

Budget Archiving. DOF currently maintains the GB, MR, and EB from fiscal years (FY) 2017-18 to present. This bill states that the GB for each budget year be posted maintained on DOF’s website for at least 10 years following the release of that budget. However it is unclear if this requirement starts with the statutory January 1, 2026 deadline for the BG for FY 2026-27, by what date this information is required to be posted each year, and whether the GB must be posted after its release or the release of the EB.

This bill requires the Department of Finance (DOF) to make available on the home page of its internet website access to the Governor’s Budget in an electronic machine readable format, and requires the California State Library to ensure, at a minimum, that electronic documents are available in a machine readable format.

Related/Prior Legislation

SB 598 (Moorlach, 2019) would have established the Open Financial Statement Commission, within the State Treasurer’s Office, to report to the Legislature regarding how and whether to transition state and local agencies’ financial reporting to a machine readable format, as specified. (Vetoed by Governor Gavin Newsom)

SB 683 (Stern, 2017) would have required the budget to be made available on DOF’s internet website in a prescribed downloadable spreadsheet format and would have required the budget for each fiscal year be posted and maintained on the site for a period of at least 10 years following the release of that budget. (Held in the Senate Appropriations Suspense File)

AB 434 (Baker, Chapter 780, Statutes of 2017) requires all state agencies and departments to certify their state entity website meets specified standards by July 1, 2019, and biennially thereafter.

AB 2257 (Maienschein, Chapter 265, Statutes of 2016) imposes additional requirements for online postings of agendas for the public meetings of specified local agency legislative bodies.

SB 272 (Hertzberg, Chapter 795, Statues of 2015) requires local governments, with specified exemptions, to catalog, and make publically available, information about their data systems, as specified.

AB 169 (Maienschein, Chapter 737, Statues of 2015) requires local agencies to use specified open data standards if they maintain an Internet Resource that is described or titled as “open data” and if they choose to post public records on that Internet Resource.

AB 913 (Melendez, Chapter 112, Statues of 2013) requires the Secretary of State and county elections officials to post on their respective internet websites and to maintain on those sites, for at least 10 years, their certified statement of election results in a downloadable spreadsheet format, as specified, and that is compatible with software widely in use at the time of posting.

AB 2799 (Shelley, Chapter 982, Statutes of 2000) revised various provisions of the Public Records Act in order to make available public records, not otherwise exempt from disclosure, in an electronic format, if the information or record is kept in electronic format by a public agency.

FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: No

According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:

Unknown, but likely minor costs for DOF to make any necessary IT changes.

No additional fiscal impact anticipated to the California State Library.

The California State Library does not anticipate any additional workload.

SUPPORT: (Verified 5/16/2024)

None received

OPPOSITION: (Verified 5/16/2024)

None received

Prepared by: Brian Duke / G.O. / (916) 651-1530

5/18/24 16:20:44

**** END ****

SENATE COMMITTEE ON

Senator Anna Caballero, Chair

2023 - 2024 Regular Session

SB 978 (Seyarto) - State government: budget: state publications: format

Bill Summary:

SB 978 requires the Department of Finance (DOF) to post the Governor’s Budget (GB) in a machine readable format on its website by January 1, 2026 and to post and maintain the GB for each budget year on its website for a period of at least 10 years following the release of that budget. SB 978 also specifies that the California State Library’s (CSL’s) digital repository and delivery system of publications be, at a minimum, in a machine readable format.

*********** ANALYSIS ADDENDUM – SUSPENSE FILE ***********

The following information is revised to reflect amendments

adopted by the committee on May 16, 2024

Fiscal Impact:

• Unknown, but likely minor costs for DOF to make any necessary IT changes.
• No additional fiscal impact anticipated to the CSL.

Committee Amendments:

Strike current GB posting requirements and instead require DOF to provide access to the budget on its internet website home page.

-- END --

SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

Senator Anna Caballero, Chair

2023 - 2024 Regular Session

SB 978 (Seyarto) - State government: budget: state publications: format

Bill Summary:

SB 978 requires the Department of Finance (DOF) to post the Governor’s Budget (GB) in a machine readable format on its website by January 1, 2026 and to post and maintain the GB for each budget year on its website for a period of at least 10 years following the release of that budget. SB 978 also specifies that the California State Library’s (CSL’s) digital repository and delivery system of publications be, at a minimum, in a machine readable format.

Fiscal Impact:

• Unknown fiscal impact to DOF to post and maintain the current Fiscal Year (FY) GB and future GBs on its website in a machine readable format. To the extent that the materials posted to its current budget website do not meet the intended criteria of this bill, there may be significant General Fund costs for DOF to develop and implement information technology changes.
• The CSL does not anticipate additional workload.

Background:

According to the California Government Operations Agency’s Open Data Portal glossary, “machine readable” means information or data that is in a form that can be easily processed by a computer without human intervention. Machine readable data must be structured in an organized way where a computer can automatically read and process that information. Non-digital materials such as photos and handwritten documents are not machine readable, even when scanned. There are various processes to make many data resources machine-readable.

Proposed Law:

• Requires the Governor’s Budget to be posted on DOF’s website in a machine readable format by January 1, 2026.
• Requires the Governor’s Budget for each budget year to be posted and maintain on DOF’s website for a period of at least 10 years following the release of that budget.
• Specifies that the CSL’s digital repository and delivery system to maintain and preserve copies of publications in electronic format be in a machine readable format.
• Makes technical changes.

Related Legislation: AB 434 (Baker, Chapter 780, Statutes of 2017) requires all state agencies and departments to certify their state entity website meets specified accessibility standards by July 1, 2019 and biennially thereafter.

Staff Comments:

Machine readability. DOF currently posts budget information on its website (ebudget.ca.gov) in a downloadable comma-separated values (CSV) format, which is a type of machine readable data file format. To the extent that the materials posted to its current budget website are considered machine readable under this bill, DOF notes costs will likely be minor and absorbable within existing resources. However, as the bill doesn’t define “machine readable,” there may be other significant General Fund costs to develop and implement IT changes to meet the bill’s mandates.

California’s budget process. Generally, the budget process is comprised of many stages. While there are publications and documents which comprise the “Governor’s Budget,” including constitutional and statutory requirements, the GB is not a full reflection of what is necessarily understood to be the State’s budget. The GB is only one of three major fiscal points in time, the other two being the May Revision (MR) and the Enacted Budget (EB).

This bill only specifies that the GB be available on DOF’s website in a machine readable format. DOF currently publishes not only the GB but the MR and EB as CSV files. DOF notes that its fiscal estimate is only based on a strict interpretation of the bill requiring the department to post the GB in a machine readable format. However, if the MR and EB are also required to be posted in a machine readable format besides CSV, then there will likely be additional unknown workload to DOF.

Budget archiving. DOF currently maintains the GB, MR, and EB from FYs 2017-18 to present. This bill states that the GB for each budget year be posted and maintained on DOF’s website for at least 10 years following the release of that budget. However, it is unclear if this requirement starts with the statutory January 10, 2026 deadline for the GB for FY 2026-27, by what date this information is required to be posted each year, and whether the GB must be posted after its release or the release of the EB.

-- END --

SENATE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION

Senator Bill Dodd

Chair

2023 - 2024 Regular

Bill No: SB Hearing Date: 3/12/2024

SUBJECT:

DIGEST: This bill requires that the Governor’s Budget be made available on the Department of Finance’s (DOF) internet website in a machine readable format, and that the Governor’s Budget for each budget year be posted and maintained online for a period of at least 10 years following the release of that budget, as specified.

ANALYSIS:

Existing law:

1. Requires, und the California Constitution, the Governor to submit a budget for the ensuring fiscal year to the Legislature within the first 10 days of each regular session.
2. Requires the budget to contain a complete plan and itemized statement of all proposed expenditures of the state provided by existing law or recommended by the Governor, and of all estimated revenues, as specified.
3. Provides that it is the policy of the State of California to make freely available to its inhabitants all state publications.
4. Authorizes the California State Library to create a digital repository and delivery system to maintain and preserve copies of publications in electronic format for ready access to the public.
5. Authorizes each state agency to provide digital publications to the California State Library in an appropriate electronic format as specified by the California State Library.
6. Requires the California State Library to determine the appropriate electronic format and authorizes the California State Library to consult with the State Archivist.

This bill:

1. Requires, on or before January 1, 2026, that the Governor’s Budget be made available on the DOF internet website in a machine readable format.
2. Requires the Governor’s Budget for each budget year to be posted and maintained on the DOF internet website for a period of at least 10 years following the release of that budget.
3. Specifies that the appropriate electronic format determined by the California State Library, at a minimum, be a machine readable format.

Background

Author Statement. According to the author’s office, “as the fifth biggest economy in the world, California’s several hundred billion dollar budget process is difficult to follow for legislative experts, much less taxpayers. SB 978 will move California forward towards greater transparency in the budget process and historical documentation by requiring the Governor’s Budget and Documents at the State Library be machine readable.”

State Budget Process. Article IV, Section 12 of the California Constitution requires that the Governor submit a budget containing itemized statements for recommended state expenditures and estimated state revenues to the Legislature within the first 10 days of each calendar year. The Governor’s Budget must also itemize actual expenditures and revenues from the prior budget year and estimated expenditures and revenues for the current budget year.

Open Data. The California Public Records Act requires public records to be open to inspection during office hours and gives every person a right to inspect public records, with specific exceptions. The Public Records Act also specifies procedures for requesting copies of public records. When a person seeks a record in an electronic format, an agency must, upon request, make the information available in any electronic format in which it holds the information, AB 2799 (Shelley, Chapter 982, Statutes of 2000). This information must generally be provided at the actual cost to the agency of producing the record.

In recent years, computer technology has advanced to allow electronic documents to be searched and indexed electronically. This searchability is enhanced by posting documents and other data in “open format,” meaning one that is: (1) made available to the public without restrictions that would impede the reuse of that information; (2) platform independent, meaning that the information can be accessed regardless of the type of operating system employed by a user; and (3) machine readable, meaning that the information can be processed and understood by a computer. Some common formats for government documents are often not machine readable. For example, government reports or other data may be posted in PDF format, but this format may simply be an image of a physical document, making the underlying data inaccessible to a computer program.

The Legislature began considering open data bills in 2015, enacting statutes that (1) require local agencies to create an inventory of their enterprise systems and make it available to the public – SB 272 (Hertzberg, Chapter 795, Statutes of 2015); and (2) establish standards for local agency agendas hosted on websites – AB 2257 (Maienschein, Chapter 265, Statutes of 2016) and any local agency websites that bill themselves as “open data” – AB 169, (Maienschein, Chapter 737, Statutes of 2015). Under these standards, data must be posted in an open format that is:

1. Retrievable, downloadable, indexable, and electronically searchable by commonly used internet search applications.
2. Platform independent and machine readable.
3. Available to the public free of charge and without any restriction that would impede the reuse or redistribution of the public record.
4. Able to retain the data definitions and structure present when the data was compiled, if applicable.

Other transparency efforts have focused on making elections results available in a form that is more easily usable by the public. Specifically, AB 813 (Melendez, Chapter 112, Statutes of 2013) requires the Secretary of State and all local elections officials to post the results of the election on their internet web sites in a downloadable spreadsheet format that is compatible with widely used software.

Additionally, SB 683 (Stern, 2017) would have required the Governor’s Budget to be machine readable with flexible data entry points. That bill was held in the Senate Appropriations Committee Suspense File. Currently, the Governor’s Budget is available online in HTML or PDF format through the Department of Finance’s eBudget website. These formats may not be easily imported into a spreadsheet application or otherwise used to perform additional calculations on the data by laypersons.

Machine Readable. According to the federal government’s Resources.data.gov, which is an online repository of policies, tools, case studies, and other resources to support data governance, management, exchange, and use throughout the federal government, machine readable refers to information or data that is in a format that can be easily processed by a computer without human intervention while ensuring no semantic meaning is lost.

The California State Library Research Bureau reports that California currently has laws containing the term “machine readable” in seven categories across state government. These include:

1. Establish agencies/officers to assist state government in developing machine readable practices. The term machine readable appears in the definition for “open data” in Government Code Section 12815.
2. Machine readable indicia/information on various goods and services sold in or conducted by the State.
3. Machine readable information on a state motor vehicle license or identification card.
4. Machine readable publication of criminal justice data by a state agency.
5. Machine readable publication of miscellaneous local government data and reports.
6. Machine readable publication of miscellaneous state government data and reports.
7. Machine readable tax-related documentation.

This bill requires, by January 1, 2026, that the Governor’s Budget be made available on DOF’s internet website in a machine readable format, and to retain each year’s budget online and available to the public for a period of at least 10 years following the release of that budget. This bill also requires the California State Library to ensure, at a minimum, that electronic documents are available in a machine readable format.

Prior/Related Legislation

SB 598 (Moorlach, 2019) would have established the Open Financial Statement Commission, within the State Treasurer’s Office, to report to the Legislature regarding how and whether to transition state and local agencies’ financial reporting to a machine readable format, as specified. (Vetoed by Governor Gavin Newsom)

SB 683 (Stern, 2017) would have required the budget to be made available on DOF’s internet website in a prescribed downloadable spreadsheet format and would have required the budget for each fiscal year be posted and maintained on the site for a period of at least 10 years following the release of that budget. (Held in the Senate Appropriations Suspense File)

AB 2257 (Maienschein, Chapter 265, Statutes of 2016) imposes additional requirements for online postings of agendas for the public meetings of specified local agency legislative bodies.

SB 272 (Hertzberg, Chapter 795, Statues of 2015) requires local governments, with specified exemptions, to catalog, and make publically available, information about their data systems, as specified.

AB 169 (Maienschein, Chapter 737, Statues of 2015) requires local agencies to use specified open data standards if they maintain an Internet Resource that is described or titled as “open data” and if they choose to post public records on that Internet Resource.

AB 913 (Melendez, Chapter 112, Statues of 2013) requires the Secretary of State and county elections officials to post on their respective internet websites and to maintain on those sites, for at least 10 years, their certified statement of election results in a downloadable spreadsheet format, as specified, and that is compatible with software widely in use at the time of posting.

AB 2799 (Shelley, Chapter 982, Statutes of 2000) revised various provisions of the Public Records Act in order to make available public records, not otherwise exempt from disclosure, in an electronic format, if the information or record is kept in electronic format by a public agency.

FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: No

SUPPORT:

None received

OPPOSITION:

None received