State Legislative Information Is Now on Computer Network

Detailed information on the day-to-day workings of the California Legislature is available on a nationwide computer network under a new law authored by Assemblywoman Debra Bowen (D-Marina del Rey).

Computer users with access to Internet can view the data at no additional charge to their access costs.

The information includes the text of all pending Assembly and Senate bills, the status, history and staff analyses of current measures, along with daily files, floor and committee voting records, and gubernatorial bill signings and vetoes.

Programmed at taxpayers’ expense, the service permits computer users to track any bill as it moves through the Legislature--or is sidetracked along the way. The files are the same as those used by state legislators and their staffs.

“This is the first step to demystifying what goes on in Sacramento,” Bowen said. “Thomas Jefferson once said that an informed citizenry was the best guarantee of a responsible government.”

Noting that the service is free of any state charges to the user, Bowen said: “Californians already pay $50 million a year to create, operate and manage this information. They shouldn’t have to pay a second fee to see what they’ve already paid to create.”

The legislation was unanimously approved in 1993 and signed into law by Gov. Pete Wilson.

Bowen’s bill drew support from such varied groups as Apple Computer, the software industry, the League of Women Voters, Sierra Club and California Common Cause.

For details on how to access the data, Bowen said computer users should contact their Assembly member or state senator and request a user’s guide.

The Internet on-line system is widely available in colleges and universities and in some government agencies and businesses. Individuals also can have access through various commercial on-line services that provide links to Internet. Costs for commercial services vary, as does the telephone time used while a person is on the system, depending on whether it requires a local or long-distance call.

A number of books explaining Internet and how to use it have been published in the last year because it is seen as the beginning of the much-talked-about information superhighway.