Lawmaker Drops Measure to Curb Public Access to FPPC’s Records
- Share via
SACRAMENTO — A state lawmaker said he is dropping for this year a bill, strongly opposed by newspaper groups, that would have restricted public access to investigative records of the state’s political watchdog agency.
Assemblyman Elihu Harris sent a letter to the Fair Political Practices Commission saying that “conversations with the leadership of the Senate have convinced me that it would be unwise to continue to seek passage of AB 2203 this year.”
The bill would apply confidentiality rules to the investigative and audit files of the FPPC, which would exempt both complaints filed with the commission and the commission’s investigative records from California’s open records act.
Harris (D-Oakland) said in his June 24 letter that he would see how the FPPC handles the guidelines imposed by a Superior Court judge last month in a lawsuit filed by the San Jose Mercury News seeking access to investigative files of former Assemblyman Frank Vicencia.
He said he would seek a legislative hearing on the subject next year before deciding whether to pursue the bill.
At the FPPC’s monthly meeting Tuesday, two of the five commissioners indicated that they were having second thoughts about the commission’s decision last month to support Harris’ bill.
One of them, Commissioner Lim Lee, said, “Very innocently, we addressed a bill Assemblyman Harris presented to us. I thought it was a good thing.
“All of a sudden, we were in a hornet’s nest. Publishers in the state jumped on us and said we committed murder and mayhem.”
Harris’ bill, which was supported by the leaders of both parties in the Legislature, was rejected June 30 by the Senate Governmental Organization Committee. Harris at that time said he would try again in August with unspecified amendments.
More to Read
Get the L.A. Times Politics newsletter
Deeply reported insights into legislation, politics and policy from Sacramento, Washington and beyond. In your inbox twice per week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.