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S.B. 283

             1     

AVAILABILITY OF PUBLIC INFORMATION AMENDMENTS

             2     
2013 GENERAL SESSION

             3     
STATE OF UTAH

             4     
Chief Sponsor: Deidre M. Henderson

             5     
House Sponsor: Craig Hall

             6     
             7      LONG TITLE
             8      General Description:
             9          This bill modifies provisions relating to the availability of public information.
             10      Highlighted Provisions:
             11          This bill:
             12          .    moves the Utah Transparency Advisory Board from the Division of Finance to the
             13      Department of Administrative Services;
             14          .    modifies the board's membership;
             15          .    expands the duties of the board to include responsibility for developing
             16      recommendations concerning making public information more accessible through a
             17      website;
             18          .    provides principles to guide the board in fulfilling its new duties;
             19          .    directs the Department of Administrative Services to implement board
             20      recommendations if certain conditions are met; and
             21          .    makes technical changes.
             22      Money Appropriated in this Bill:
             23          None
             24      Other Special Clauses:
             25          This bill provides an immediate effective date.
             26      Utah Code Sections Affected:
             27      AMENDS:


             28          63A-3-403, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2010, Chapter 286
             29     
             30      Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
             31          Section 1. Section 63A-3-403 is amended to read:
             32           63A-3-403. Utah Transparency Advisory Board -- Creation -- Membership --
             33      Duties.
             34          (1) There is created within the [division] department the Utah Transparency Advisory
             35      Board comprised of members knowledgeable about public finance or providing public access
             36      to public [financial] information [as follows:].
             37          (2) The board consists of:
             38          (a) [one member designated] an individual appointed by the director of the Division of
             39      Finance;
             40          (b) [one member designated] an individual appointed by the director of the Governor's
             41      Office of Planning and Budget;
             42          [(c) one member appointed by the governor on advice from the Judicial Council, who
             43      shall serve until June 30, 2009;]
             44          [(d) one member]
             45          (c) an individual appointed by the governor on advice from the Legislative Fiscal
             46      Analyst;
             47          [(e)] (d) one member of the Senate, appointed by the governor on advice from the
             48      president of the Senate;
             49          [(f)] (e) one member of the House of Representatives, appointed by the governor on
             50      advice from the speaker of the House of Representatives;
             51          [(g) one member designated]
             52          (f) an individual appointed by the director of the Department of Technology Services;
             53          [(h) one member appointed by the governor from a state institution of higher education,
             54      who shall serve for one year beginning on July 1, 2009 and ending on June 30, 2010; and]
             55          [(i) three additional members appointed by the governor, who shall each serve one-year
             56      terms as follows:]
             57          [(i) for the term beginning on July 1, 2009 and ending on June 30, 2010, represent the
             58      following entities:]


             59          [(A) a school district;]
             60          [(B) a charter school; and]
             61          [(C) a public transit district created under Title 17B, Chapter 2a, Part 8, Public Transit
             62      District Act; and]
             63          [(ii) for the term beginning on July 1, 2010 and ending on June 30, 2011, represent the
             64      following entities:]
             65          [(A) a county;]
             66          [(B) a municipality; and]
             67          [(C) (I) a local district under Title 17B, Limited Purpose Local Government Entities -
             68      Local Districts, that is not a public transit district created under Title 17B, Chapter 2a, Part 8,
             69      Public Transit District Act; or]
             70          [(II) a special service district under Title 17D, Chapter 1, Special Service District Act.]
             71          (g) the director of the Division of Archives created in Section 63A-12-101 or the
             72      director's designee;
             73          (h) an individual who is a member of the State Records Committee created in Section
             74      63G-2-501 , appointed by the governor; and
             75          (i) two individuals who are members of the public and who have knowledge, expertise,
             76      or experience in matters relating to the board's duties under Subsection (10), appointed by the
             77      board members identified in Subsections (2)(a) through (h).
             78          [(2)] (3) The board shall:
             79          (a) advise the division on matters related to the implementation and administration of
             80      this part;
             81          (b) develop plans, make recommendations, and assist in implementing the provisions
             82      of this part;
             83          (c) determine what public financial information shall be provided by participating state
             84      and local entities, [provided that] if the public financial information:
             85          (i) only includes records that:
             86          (A) are classified as public under Title 63G, Chapter 2, Government Records Access
             87      and Management Act;
             88          (B) are an accounting of money, funds, accounts, bonds, loans, expenditures, or
             89      revenues, regardless of the source; and


             90          (C) are owned, held, or administered by the participating state or local entity that is
             91      required to provide the record; and
             92          (ii) is of the type or nature that should be accessible to the public via a website based
             93      on considerations of:
             94          (A) the cost effectiveness of providing the information;
             95          (B) the value of providing the information to the public; and
             96          (C) privacy and security considerations;
             97          (d) evaluate the cost effectiveness of implementing specific information resources and
             98      features on the website;
             99          (e) establish size or budget thresholds to identify those local entities that qualify as
             100      participating local entities as defined in this part, giving special consideration to the budget and
             101      resource limitations of an entity with a current annual budget of less than $10,000,000;
             102          (f) require participating local entities to provide public financial information in
             103      accordance with the requirements of this part, with a specified content, reporting frequency,
             104      and form;
             105          (g) require a participating local entity's website to be accessible by link or other direct
             106      route from the Utah Public Finance Website if the participating local entity does not use the
             107      Utah Public Finance Website; and
             108          (h) determine the search methods and the search criteria that shall be made available to
             109      the public as part of a website used by a participating local entity under the requirements of this
             110      part, which criteria may include:
             111          (i) fiscal year;
             112          (ii) expenditure type;
             113          (iii) name of the agency;
             114          (iv) payee;
             115          (v) date; and
             116          (vi) amount.
             117          [(3)] (4) The board shall annually elect a chair and a vice chair from its members.
             118          [(4)] (5) (a) [Except for a member appointed under Subsections (1)(c) and (h), each]
             119      Each member shall serve a two-year term.
             120          (b) When a vacancy occurs in the membership for any reason, the replacement shall be


             121      appointed for the remainder of the unexpired term.
             122          [(5) The board shall meet as it determines necessary to accomplish its duties.]
             123          (6) To accomplish its duties, the board:
             124          (a) may meet as many as eight times during 2013; and
             125          (b) shall, after 2013, meet as it determines necessary.
             126          [(6)] (7) Reasonable notice shall be given to each member of the board before any
             127      meeting.
             128          [(7)] (8) A majority of the board constitutes a quorum for the transaction of business.
             129          [(8)] (9) A member may not receive compensation or benefits for the member's service,
             130      but may receive per diem and travel expenses in accordance with:
             131          (a) Section 63A-3-106 ;
             132          (b) Section 63A-3-107 ; and
             133          (c) rules made by the Division of Finance pursuant to Sections 63A-3-106 and
             134      63A-3-107 .
             135          (10) (a) As used in this Subsection (10):
             136          (i) "Information website" means a single Internet website containing public information
             137      or links to public information.
             138          (ii) "Public information" means records of state or local government that are classified
             139      as public under Title 63G, Chapter 2, Government Records Access and Management Act.
             140          (b) The board shall:
             141          (i) study the establishment of an information website and develop recommendations for
             142      its establishment;
             143          (ii) develop recommendations about how to make public information more readily
             144      available to the public through the information website;
             145          (iii) develop standards to make uniform the format and accessibility of public
             146      information posted to the information website; and
             147          (iv) no later than November 30, 2013, report the board's recommendations and
             148      standards developed under Subsections (10)(b)(i) through (iii) to the executive director and the
             149      Legislative Management Committee.
             150          (c) In fulfilling its duties under Subsection (10)(b), the board shall be guided by
             151      principles that encourage:


             152          (i) (A) the establishment of a standardized format of public information that makes the
             153      information more easily accessible by the public;
             154          (B) the removal of restrictions on the reuse of public information;
             155          (C) minimizing limitations on the disclosure of public information while appropriately
             156      safeguarding sensitive information; and
             157          (D) balancing factors in favor of excluding public information from an information
             158      website against the public interest in having the information accessible on an information
             159      website;
             160          (ii) (A) permanent, lasting, open access to public information; and
             161          (B) the publication of bulk public information;
             162          (iii) the implementation of well-designed public information systems that ensure data
             163      quality, create a public, comprehensive list or index of public information, and define a process
             164      for continuous publication of and updates to public information;
             165          (iv) the identification of public information not currently made available online and the
             166      implementation of a process, including a timeline and benchmarks, for making that public
             167      information available online; and
             168          (v) accountability on the part of those who create, maintain, manage, or store public
             169      information or post it to an information website.
             170          (d) The department shall implement the board's recommendations, including the
             171      establishment of an information website, to the extent that implementation:
             172          (i) is approved by the Legislative Management Committee;
             173          (ii) does not require further legislative appropriation; and
             174          (iii) is within the department's existing statutory authority.
             175          Section 2. Effective date.
             176          If approved by two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, this bill takes effect
             177      upon approval by the governor, or the day following the constitutional time limit of Utah
             178      Constitution Article VII, Section 8, without the governor's signature, or in the case of a veto,
             179      the date of veto override.





Legislative Review Note
    as of 3-4-13 9:31 AM


Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel


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