BILL ANALYSIS
SB 888
Page 1
Date of Hearing: August 4, 2004
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Judy Chu, Chair
SB 888 (Dunn) - As Amended: June 30, 2004
Policy Committee: Labor and
Employment Vote: 6-2
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill prohibits the performance of any work involving
information that is essential to homeland security at a work
site outside of the United States. Specifically, this bill:
1)Prohibits any work involving information that is essential to
homeland security from being performed at a work site outside
of the United States, unless the material or expertise
necessary to perform the work is unavailable in the United
States.
2)Defines "information essential to homeland security" as either
of the following:
a) Information necessary to enhance the capability of state
and local jurisdictions to prepare for and respond to
terrorist acts, including, but not limited to, acts of
terrorism involving weapons of mass destruction and
nuclear, radiological, incendiary, chemical, and explosive
devices; or
b) Information relating to physical and information
infrastructures, including, but not limited to, the
telecommunications, energy, financial services, water, and
transportation sectors.
FISCAL EFFECT
DGS indicates that state costs would exceed $150,000. To the
extent that this bill reduces the pool of eligible state
contractors, contract costs will increase. Moreover, state
SB 888
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agencies would incur costs to investigate whether existing and
new state contracts involve foreign subcontractors.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . This bill is intended to address the concern that
"outsourcing" compromises California's homeland security. Most
significantly, this bill would prohibit public and private
sector entities from hiring contractors that outsource
computer or engineering work on telecommunications, energy,
financial services, water, and transportation infrastructure.
This fairly broad prohibition is based on the premise that the
physical location where work is performed provides a better
measure of security than encryption or other screening and
surveillance measures that may be implemented without regard
to location.
2)Related Legislation . This bill originally was included in SB
1492 (Dunn) which also prohibited health care businesses from
transmitting individually identifiable health information to a
site outside of the United States. SB 1492 was amended to
contain only those provisions related to medical privacy,
while the homeland security provisions of SB 1492 were amended
into this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Stephen Shea / APPR. / (916) 319-2081