SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Data security legislation backed by the California Credit Union League unanimously passed the California State Assembly Monday afternoon.
The bill seeks to ensure that California retailers and government agencies protect consumers’ sensitive financial data and take responsibility for any unauthorized access of that information. A similar bill was vetoed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last year.
Keri Bailey, director of state government affairs for the CCUL, told the 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.”
Bailey said the significance of moving this year's bill with unanimous support 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.
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 in May.”
