California State Assembly Appropriations Committee refers SB 272 to the Assembly floor, puts SB 573 into the “suspense file” until August 27th

According to staff at the California State Assembly Appropriations Committee, that panel today took the following actions on SB 272, a bill by State Senator Robert Hertzberg to require the cataloging of the data assets of California local government agencies, and SB 573, a bill by State Senator Dr. Richard Pan which would create the position of Chief Data Officer of the State of California and a data portal providing one-stop access to state-held data (subject to proper safeguards, of course):

SB 272 received a “do-pass” vote of 17-0 and was referred to the Assembly floor, where it will be taken up at a time to be determined by Senator Hertzberg, its author, a former Speaker of the California Assembly, and, according to some, now the leading candidate to become the next President pro tem of the State Senate.  His press secretary had, earlier in the week, told Etopia News that he was “hopeful” the bill would get the vote it did.

SB 573, as predicted recently on Etopia News, was put into the “suspense file” and will be taken up officially by the committee on August 27^th, eight days from now.  It can safely be assumed that informal discussions will take place about the cost and other elements of this proposed legislation between now and when the bill comes up for official consideration again on the 27th.

On August 26^th, the day before SB 573 is taken up again by the Assembly Appropriations Committee, the Data Transparency Coalition will present California Data Demo Day in the Eureka Room at the State Capital, as they explain here.

Senator Pan will speak at the event, and exhibitors such as Socrata, a privately-held, Seattle-based company that provides integrated solutions for accessing public sector data, will highlight the possibilities inherent in the move to open data in the public sector.