What are the specific civil penalties for violating AB 1930?
Short answer
Assembly Bill 1930 establishes clear financial consequences for entities that fail to follow its new privacy protections. Submitting a false affidavit to bypass the bill’s requirements results in a $15,000 penalty. Intentionally, knowingly, willingly, or recklessly complying with a prohibited out-of-state or federal request leads to a $10,000 fine for the first violation and $15,000 for each subsequent violation [https://legiscan.com/CA/text/AB1930/id/3452164].
What the bill or law says
The proposed legislation adds Section 1798.309 to the California Civil Code to enforce these penalties. The text specifies that the Attorney General is authorized to bring civil actions to recover these amounts. In addition to the penalties, the state can also recover attorney’s fees and costs associated with enforcing the law [https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1930#95AMD].
The bill defines the conditions for these fines strictly. A false affidavit penalty applies when an entity submits a sworn statement claiming an investigation is not related to imposing liability for lawful care, if that statement is untrue. The compliance penalties apply when an entity shares information about abortion or gender-affirming care without a court order or valid affidavit, despite knowing such sharing is restricted [https://legiscan.com/CA/text/AB1930/id/3452164].
How it works in practice
In practice, these penalties serve as a deterrent against casual or malicious cooperation with out-of-state investigations. Because the fines are civil rather than criminal, the enforcement mechanism relies on the California Attorney General suing the offending party. This means the state, rather than individual patients, would likely lead the legal effort to collect these fines.
The tiered structure for compliance violations distinguishes between first-time errors and repeated offenses. An entity that mistakenly shares data once faces a $10,000 penalty. If that same entity violates the rule again, the cost rises to $15,000 per incident. This escalation encourages businesses and providers to establish strict internal protocols for handling subpoenas related to reproductive and gender-affirming health care [https://legiscan.com/CA/text/AB1930/id/3452164].
What the source does not answer
The bill text does not specify how the Attorney General will prioritize which cases to pursue for these penalties. It also does not detail whether small businesses or individual providers might face different enforcement scrutiny compared to large corporations. Additionally, the sources do not explain how these civil penalties interact with any potential federal laws that might conflict with California’s restrictions. The exact budget impact of enforcing these fines on the state legal system is also not detailed in the provided legislative documents [https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billStatusClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1930].