California Bill Would Limit Access to Public Records

In March, Assemblymember Blanca Pacheco introduced a measure that would have made  it more expensive for Californians to obtain government records.

Amid opposition from transparency advocates and public access concerns from her own Assembly colleagues, though, the Downey Democrat diluted her proposal to simply give governments more time to respond to records requests, a change that allowed the measure to sail through the Assembly in May. 

Now, she’s brought the controversial elements back — and they are even more restrictive than before, drawing fierce opposition from transparency advocates.

The latest version of her proposal, Assembly Bill 1821, is co-written by the League of California Cities and the California State Association of Counties. It would allow government agencies to delay responding to certain requests and to charge $22 to $66 an hour to search for and review the records they deem are for “commercial use.” 

Government agencies could also take requests to court if they believe someone is asking for the records for a malicious reason. 

Read the rest of the story . . .

By Yue Stella Yu, Politics and Campaign Reporter | June 18, 2026 | CAL MATTERS

Submitted by a Common Sense reader

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