SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Data security legislation backed by the California Credit Union League unanimously passed the California State Assembly by a 75-0, bipartisan vote.
According to the CCUL, Assembly Bill 1779, introduced by Sacramento Assemblyman Dave Jones, seeks to ensure California retailers and government agencies protect consumers’ sensitive financial data and take responsibility for any unauthorized access of that information. In 2007, the California league and Assemblyman Jones joined with other supporters to send what then was known as AB 779 through both state houses here before it was vetoed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Keri Bailey, director of state government affairs for the CCUL, told Credit Union Journal the governor’s veto message invited the league and its allies to make changes on the bill and bring it back.
“We are working to address the governor’s veto message,” she said. “We are waiting for final word from the governor’s office to determine if our language has enough substantive changes to meet the requirements. They don’t give guarantees, but we want to make sure we have done what the veto message asked us to do. If we need to make changes, we will do so on the Senate version.”
Bailey said the significance of moving AB 1779 with unanimous support in the April 21 vote demonstrates “the legislature wants to address” the issue of data security. “The governor also wants to address the issue, which is a good thing,” she added.
The CCUL declared the California Assembly’s passage of the bill “a significant legislative victory” and said it would help protect data and credit card information from identity theft.
“With unopposed passage through two committees and the Assembly floor, it’s quite obvious the California Legislature is in agreement that AB 1779 is the ticket to further protecting Californians from future data security breaches,” Bill Cheney, the president and CEO of the CCUL said in a release. “We are confident the bill will be received in similar fashion by legislators in the Senate.”
The legislation now moves on to the Senate Judiciary Committee for hearing, where it is slated to be considered before the fiscal deadline of Aug. 31.
“We are working to have it heard much earlier than that,” said Bailey. “Technically, they have until the Aug. 31 deadline, but we hope to have it heard by the committee [this month].”
