The debate also raises questions over who can co-author a bill.

In California, legislators author the bill when an individual or group convinces a Member of the Legislature to do so, as in the case of Kemp. The Member then sends the idea and the language for the bill to the Legislative Counsel’s Office, where it is drafted into the actual bill. The drafted bill is returned to the legislator for their review alongside the people who originated the idea for the bill. This is to ensure that the provisions they desire are in the bill in the correct form, according to California’s legislative process.

That said, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit group that endorsed SB 362, classifies only elected officials running a bill as its authors.

“Organizations primarily supporting the bills are referred to as sponsors. It’s common for sponsors to be folks and/or companies that have an interest in a bill’s passage,” said Hayley Tsukayama, associate director of legislative activism at EFF. “In this case, Kemp is a sponsor and not an author.”

However, Kemp contested Tsukayama’s definition and pointed out that he does not qualify as a sponsor. This is as per the latest floor alert sent to all Legislators on Sunday as reviewed by Adweek, which acknowledged groups like Privacy Rights Clearinghouse among its main sponsors.

“You can call me a volunteer, a contributor, someone who helped to draft it,” said Kemp. “But I am not officially considered a sponsor.”