(OAKLAND) – At a press conference today, Assemblymember Sandré R. Swanson (D-Alameda), Oakland City Auditor Courtney Ruby, and Oakland City Council President Ignacio de la Fuente discussed a new law to protect whistleblowers.  AB 2001, authored by Assemblymember Swanson, provides new confidentiality guarantees for city and county workers.  The legislation was signed into law by Governor Schwarzenegger last Friday.

“We take for granted the slogan that our responsibility as officials is to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse. Now since every county, city, and the state itself is facing a serious deficit, it is more important than ever that we find out where we are wasting money. This is a very serious notion during these very difficult budget times,” Assemblymember Swanson proclaimed.

AB 2001 authorizes cities and counties to create and maintain whistleblower hotlines, a resource that had been missing at the local government level.

“This bill guarantees employees privacy and job protection in reporting misuse of government funds,” Assemblymember Swanson added.

Oakland’s City Auditor, Courtney Ruby, was the sponsor of the bill. Ruby joined with auditors and controllers throughout the state in support of the bill, many of whom testified before committees throughout the legislative process. 

“When I took office last year, it became immediately apparent that in order to do my job to protect the public interest, I had to be able to look a whistleblower in the eye and guarantee him or her protection.  By providing a critical guarantee of confidentiality, AB 2001 allows local governments like the city of Oakland to protect and encourage whistleblowers who want to come forward with tips of fraud, waste, and abuse of government resources,” Ruby stated.

“A typical organization such as the city of Oakland loses 7% of its annual revenue to occupational fraud,” Ruby added.

The legislation will empower a city or county’s auditor or controller to operate whistleblower hotlines.  All information received on the hotline will be held by the auditor or controller, who can then determine whether an audit or investigation of a governmental entity is warranted. No information will be revealed without the written permission of the caller, unless a law enforcement agency requests the information as part of an ongoing criminal investigation. 

Council President Ignacio de la Fuente commented, “In addition to our employees, the public has the ability to call the hotline and give information to the Auditor's office.  The purpose is to create a better government, and AB 2001 does that.”                                                                                           

“Nowhere is it more important than in city and county government for us to provide whistleblower protection.  The provisions of this bill to protect employees from retaliation is essential to lending credibility to any whistleblower system.  This government accountability measure won bi-partisan support and the Governor’s signature because it represents transparency and open government,” Assemblymember Swanson concluded. 

The law goes into effect on January 1, 2009.