{"id":18658,"date":"2026-06-29T14:02:02","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T14:02:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=18658"},"modified":"2026-06-29T14:02:02","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T14:02:02","slug":"a-california-bill-sought-to-make-sweeping-changes-to-how-can-request-public-records-and-how-much-itd-cost-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=18658","title":{"rendered":"A California bill sought to make sweeping changes to how can request public records \u2014 and how much it\u2019d cost them"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

During a week where lawmakers continued to hammer out details of a more than $350 billion state budget and made last-minute deals determining what propositions will be on California voters\u2019 ballots in the fall, another fight brewed in the statehouse.<\/p>\n

Read more 3 firefighters killed, nearly 40,000 acres consumed as wildfires scorch western Colorado<\/a><\/p>\n

This one was over government transparency, specifically public records.<\/p>\n

At the core of it was a bill from Assemblymember Blanca Pacheco, D-Downey, that sought to make sweeping changes to how anyone could access government documents and data.<\/p>\n

Assembly Bill 1821 initially would have changed California\u2019s Public Records Act \u2014 a law in place since 1968 that requires government records to be disclosed to the public \u2014 to give officials more time to respond to records requests.<\/p>\n

Specifically, Pacheco\u2019s bill ups the time public agencies have to determine whether it has the records requested from 10 days after receiving a request from the public to 10 business days. And for special circumstances, it increases that time limit to 14 business days, instead of just 14 days.<\/p>\n

A variety of First Amendment and legal organizations opposed the bill even in that form, but it still passed out of the Assembly in late May with some bipartisan support.<\/p>\n

But recent changes to the bill \u2014 made ahead of a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing scheduled for this week \u2014 led to a bit of a brouhaha in the legislature.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

The bill would allow a government agency to petition a court if it believed a request for documents was made with \u201cmalicious intent.\u201d If that was so determined, fees between $22.35 and $66.26 per hour for the search and review time of the requested records could be imposed.<\/p>\n

It would also let government agencies determine if a request was made for \u201ccommercial use\u201d and charge fees then.<\/p>\n

Pacheco\u2019s office ultimately stripped the amendments following the outcry last week.<\/p>\n

Her office didn\u2019t respond to repeated requests for comment about the intention behind those controversial additions. Nikki Johnson, Pacheco\u2019s chief of staff, only said in an email that the bill will be amended back to the version that passed in the Assembly, which only tackled the length of time government agencies had to respond to records requests.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Still, David Snyder, the executive director of the First Amendment Coalition, a nonpartisan outfit, called the attempt to push such a bill through the statehouse \u201cdeeply troubling.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was a very serious attempt to seriously undermine the rights that all Californians have to see how their government operates,\u201d said Snyder. \u201cIt would have done great damage to the Public Records Act and to transparency and accountability generally.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were truly alarmed,\u201d Snyder said, \u201cand this organization is not one that runs around with its hair on fire a lot of the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Alex Murdaugh\u2019s true crime saga continues as he heads to court for hearing on murder retrial<\/a><\/p>\n

Snyder said he was glad to see the latest amendments removed from the bill and acknowledged that he generally believes government agencies and officials \u201cbehave on the up and up\u201d more likely than not.<\/p>\n

Still, Snyder said, \u201cdemocracy cannot function unless the people understand what their government is doing, and people can\u2019t understand what their government is doing if they can\u2019t get information from their government.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Public Records Act is a key way for what\u2019s happening with the government to get out to the public,\u201d he added. \u201cWithout it, we\u2019d largely be at the whims of government agencies to tell us what\u2019s going on and what the facts are, and that\u2019s a recipe for a collapse of democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Proponents of the bill, though, have argued that the original intent was to help agencies tackle large-scale requests with few staff, particularly when they don\u2019t work on weekends or holidays.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn recent years, public agencies have seen a significant increase in public records requests,\u201d Pacheco, who represents La Habra in the Assembly, said in the bill analysis. \u201cAs digital communication has expanded, submitting requests \u2014 often in high volume \u2014 has become easier than ever. Some requests are unusually large or require substantial staff time to fulfill.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen a small number of requests consume a disproportionate share of resources, agencies can face challenges keeping up with all requests in a timely manner while still providing essential services,\u201d Pacheco said.<\/p>\n

When the bill passed the Assembly \u2014 this version only increased the length of time an agency had to respond to requests \u2014 it had the support of the California State Association of Counties, League of California Cities, California Municipal Clerks Association, Rural County Representatives of California and Urban Counties of California.<\/p>\n

As for Orange County\u2019s legislators, Assemblymembers Diane Dixon, R-Newport Beach; Cottie Petrie-Norris, D-Irvine; Sharon Quirk-Silva, D-Fullerton; and Avelino Valencia, D-Anaheim, along with Pacheco, voted in favor of the bill.<\/p>\n

Assemblymembers Laurie Davies, R-Laguna Niguel; Kate Sanchez, R-Rancho Santa Margarita; and Tri Ta, R-Westminster voted against the bill.<\/p>\n

Assemblymember Phillip Chen, R-Yorba Linda, did not vote.<\/p>\n

The bill is scheduled to be heard in a crowded Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, June 30. It is chaired by Sen. Tom Umberg, D-Santa Ana.<\/p>\n

In other news:<\/h4>\n

\u2022 Sen. Catherine Blakespear, a Democrat whose district includes communities in southern Orange County, touted an effort to restrict the sale of nitrous oxide cans larger than 8 grams, with some industries (automotive, culinary, dental and medical) excluded. She was joined at a Friday news conference by Davies, the Laguna Niguel Republican Assembly member, and Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the first county in California to ban nitrous oxide, families, schools, hospitals and law enforcement see the harm firsthand,\u201d said Foley. \u201cLocal neurologists and pediatricians share stories of formerly strong individuals now struggling to stay in school as well as maintain employment and housing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Markets on Wall Street poised to open higher; oil prices rise as U.S.-Iran tensions escalate<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sacramento Snapshot: A local assemblymember strips some amendments from the bill after an outcry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11298,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-based-on-facts-either-observed-and-verified-directly-by-the-reporter-or-reported-and-verified-from-knowledgeable-sources","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nA California bill sought to make sweeping changes to how can request public records \u2014 and how much it\u2019d cost them - Silicon Valley Moving Post<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=18658\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A California bill sought to make sweeping changes to how can request public records \u2014 and how much it\u2019d cost them - 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