FAC opposes AB 1821, a bill that would frustrate public access to information by giving government agencies more time to provide initial responses to anyone seeking information under the California Public Records Act. That initial response does not require agencies to produce records. It simply requires them to say whether they have responsive records and whether those records will be disclosed or withheld. AB 1821 would allow government agencies to delay this straightforward, threshold communication, undermining the CPRA’s core promise of prompt transparency.
The bill was even more detrimental to transparency in its original form, which would have imposed high fees on records requesters. Amid mounting opposition, the author amended it to remove the fee provisions but is moving forward with the bill that would slow down the request process.
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