Bill Text: CA AB2184 | 2017-2018 | Regular Session | Chaptered

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Bill Title: Business licenses.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)

Status: (Passed) 2018-09-14 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 388, Statutes of 2018. [AB2184 Detail]

Download: California-2017-AB2184-Chaptered.html

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Assembly Bill No. 2184

CHAPTER 388

An act to add Sections 16000.1 and 16100.1 to the Business and Professions Code, relating to business licenses.

[ Approved by Governor  September 14, 2018. Filed with Secretary of State  September 14, 2018. ]

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 2184, Chiu. Business licenses.

Existing law authorizes the legislative body of an incorporated city and the county board of supervisors to license businesses carried on within their respective jurisdictions and to set license fees as specified.

This bill would require a city, including a charter city, county, and city and county that licenses businesses carried on within its jurisdiction to accept a California driver’s license or identification number, individual taxpayer identification number, or municipal identification number in lieu of a social security number if the city, county, or city and county otherwise requires a social security number for the issuance of a business license. The bill would require these jurisdictions to require the applicant to provide an address where the individual consents to receive service of process, and would require the jurisdictions to accept a post office box or private mailbox that meets certain requirements. The bill would prohibit personal information, as defined to include these identification numbers, collected for purposes of issuing the business license from being disclosed, except as specified. By increasing the duties of local officials, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

The California Constitution authorizes cities and counties to make and enforce within their limits all local, police, sanitary, and other ordinances and regulations not in conflict with general laws, and further authorizes cities organized under a charter to make and enforce all ordinances and regulations in respect to municipal affairs, which supersede inconsistent general laws.

The bill would declare that its provisions constitute a matter of statewide concern.

Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest.

This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.

Digest Key

Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: YES  

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Bill Text

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

 The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a) Immigrants provide important contributions to the economic well-being of our state, and following the Great Recession of 2008, the entrepreneurial spirit of immigrants contributed to our state’s economic recovery.

(b) Immigrants created around 45 percent of all new businesses from 2007 to 2011 and immigrant-owned businesses in California created approximately $20.2 billion in revenue in 2014.

(c) Presently, certain categories of immigrants, including individuals who have been granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or Temporary Protected Status are at risk of losing federal protection, leaving them and their families vulnerable, and many cities with large immigrant populations currently only accept a social security number from business owners, thereby hindering immigrant entrepreneurship and its accompanying revenue generation and contribution to local and state taxes.

(d) It is in the best interests of the state to provide otherwise eligible persons, regardless of their citizenship or immigration status, with the opportunity to obtain a local business license.

(e) No county or city, including a charter city, and city and county, should deny the opportunity to obtain a local business license to an otherwise eligible applicant based on his or her citizenship status or immigration status.

(f) Enacting this act affirmatively provides the benefit of eligibility to obtain a local business license as authorized in Section 1621 of Title 8 of the United States Code.

(g) This act addresses a matter of statewide concern, rather than a municipal affair as that term is used in Section 5 of Article XI of the California Constitution.

SEC. 2.

 Section 16000.1 is added to the Business and Professions Code, to read:

16000.1.

 (a) (1) A city that licenses businesses carried on within its jurisdiction shall accept a California driver’s license or identification number, an individual taxpayer identification number, or a municipal identification number in lieu of a social security number if the city otherwise requires a social security number for the issuance of a business license.

(2) A city that licenses a business carried on within its jurisdiction shall require the applicant to provide an address where the individual consents to receive service of process. An acceptable address for this purpose shall include a post office box or private mailbox that complies with paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 17538.5. This address shall be available for public inspection.

(3) Personal information collected for purposes of issuing a business license by a city shall be confidential, shall not be available to the public for inspection, and shall not be disclosed except as required to administer the licensure program or comply with a judicial warrant, subpoena, or court order.

(b) For purposes of this section, the following definitions shall apply:

(1) “City” includes a charter city and a city and county.

(2) “Personal information” means all of the following:

(A) An applicant’s residential address if the applicant provides a different address pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (a).

(B) A California driver’s license or identification number, an individual taxpayer identification number, a municipal identification number, and a social security number.

(C) Income and tax information.

SEC. 3.

 Section 16100.1 is added to the Business and Professions Code, to read:

16100.1.

 (a) (1) A county that licenses businesses carried on within its jurisdiction shall accept a California driver’s license or identification number, an individual taxpayer identification number, or a municipal identification number in lieu of a social security number if the county otherwise requires a social security number for the issuance of a business license.

(2) A county that licenses a business carried on within its jurisdiction shall require the applicant to provide an address where the individual consents to receive service of process. An acceptable address for this purpose shall include a post office box or private mailbox that complies with paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 17538.5. This address shall be available for public inspection.

(3) Personal information collected for purposes of issuing a business license by a county shall be confidential, shall not be available to the public for inspection, and shall not be disclosed except as required to administer the licensure program or comply with a judicial warrant, subpoena, or court order.

(b) For purposes of this section, “personal information” means all of the following:

(1) An applicant’s residential address if the applicant provides a different address pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (a).

(2) A California driver’s license or identification number, an individual taxpayer identification number, a municipal identification number, and a social security number.

(3) Income and tax information.

SEC. 4.

 No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because a local agency or school district has the authority to levy service charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or level of service mandated by this act, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code.

SEC. 5.

 The Legislature finds and declares that Sections 2 and 3 of this act, adding Sections 16000.1 and 16100.1 to the Business and Professions Code, impose a limitation on the public’s right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies within the meaning of Section 3 of Article I of the California Constitution. Pursuant to that constitutional provision, the Legislature makes the following findings to demonstrate the interest protected by this limitation and the need for protecting that interest:

Sections 2 and 3 of this act, adding Sections 16000.1 and 16100.1 to the Business and Professions Code, strike the appropriate balance between the public’s right to access information about the conduct of their government agencies and the need to protect the personal information of the private individuals who apply for the issuance of a business license.