Overview
- Assemblymember Blanca Pacheco has reintroduced an expanded version of her public‑records proposal that restores powers to delay responses, impose new fee tiers and allow agencies to ask courts to block requests they call malicious.
- The bill would let agencies treat some requests as commercial and charge $22 an hour for administrative work and $66 an hour for professional work while a court finding of malicious intent would trigger an $88‑per‑hour charge for records work.
- Transparency and press‑rights groups say the law would chill journalism, research and citizen oversight by making requests costly and by giving governments a statutory path to sue requesters.
- Supporters including the League of California Cities and county groups argue the changes are aimed at rare, abusive requests and at new burdens from automated or AI‑driven harvesting, and the bill would exempt some users such as journalists and academics.
- The measure passed a narrower Assembly version in May and was expanded in June 2026; it now heads to the Senate with lawmakers facing the end‑of‑session deadline to act and advocates preparing legal and public opposition.