BILL ANALYSIS
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2064
Author: Huber (D)
Amended: 8/20/10 in Senate
Vote: 21
PRIOR VOTES NOT RELEVANT
SUBJECT : State and local government: salary disclosure
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill requires state legislators and staff,
constitutional officers and their exempt or appointed
deputies, and most elected or appointed local government
officials to make available on the Internet annual salary
information.
Senate Floor Amendments of 8/20/10 make clarifying changes
and add double-jointing language to avoid a chaptering out
problem with SB 501 (Correa).
Senate Floor Amendments of 8/19/10 (1) delete the contents
of the bill relating to the Emergency Housing Shelter
Operations Grant Account, and insert provisions that
require annual salary information to be made available for
state legislators and staff, constitutional officers and
their exempt or appointed deputies, and most elected or
appointed local government officials; (2) change the author
of the bill to Assemblymember Huber; (3) make the bill a
majority vote bill by deleting the urgency clause.
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ANALYSIS : Existing law requires all state and local
public agencies to provide quarterly revenue, expenditure
and related information to the Controller. The California
Public Records Act states that the public is entitled to
access to any writing containing information relating to
the conduct of the public's business that is used, owned or
retained by any state or local agency.
The California Constitution authorizes cities or counties
to adopt a charter by vote of the electors. Charter cities
and counties have authority over "municipal affairs", and
under that authority many charter cities have enacted
ordinances governing salary and benefits of employees and
elected officials. In contrast, "general law" cities are
subject to state law that limits salaries of city council
members based on the size of the city.
This bill:
1. Requires each house of the Legislature to post on its
Internet Web site the annual salary for Senators,
Assembly Members, and employees of each house of the
Legislature.
2. Requires the Constitutional officers to post on their
Internet Web sites the annual salary information for
constitutional officers and any appointed or exempt
deputies or employees.
3. Requires each general law or charter city, county,
special district, school district, and joint powers
agency to post on its Internet Web site the annual
salary received by each elected or appointed official,
superintendent, deputy, assistant or associate
superintendent, general manager, city manager, county
administrator and other similar chief administrative or
executive officer.
4. Requires Each official or entity listed above shall
annually update the salary information posted on the
official Internet Web sites.
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5. Requires the Legislature to find and declare that
disclosure of salary information for city and county
elected and appointed officials directly contributes to
the fiscal integrity and stability of local government
entities, and is therefore an issue of statewide concern
and not a "municipal affair" as that term is used in
state constitutional provisions governing charter cities
or charter counties.
6. Requires that if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that this measure contains state mandated
costs, reimbursement to local agencies and school
districts shall be made according to the Commission's
mandate claims procedures.
7. Contains double-jointing-language toprevent a
chaptering-out problem with SB 501 (Correa).
Background
Among other things, the author states that, "with the
recent controversy over public employee salaries in the
City of Bell, it has become painfully clear that
transparency of public officials' salaries is severely
lacking, and that it is very difficult to determine the
salary of most elected and appointed officials. A first
step to making all levels of government more transparent is
giving the taxpayers access to basic information on how
much their elected and appointed officials are paid.
Government has the ability to make more information online
than ever before yet our current system serves insiders
more than it does every day Californians."
The City of Bell, a charter city, spent nearly $1.6 million
annually on just three city employees, about half of it
going to pay the $800,000 salary of City Manager Robert
Rizzo. Police Chief Randy Adams was paid $457,000, and
Assistant City Manager Angela Spaccia earned $376,288. All
have resigned and will not receive severance packages.
After the resignations, Bell city council members cut their
salaries, which had included compensation for service on
multiple city panels, some of which had met very briefly,
or at the same time. Later, the Bell city council voted to
lower property taxes after an audit by the state Controller
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revealed that Bell had overcharged residents, presumably to
cover pension and salary costs for city employees. In
addition, the city of Bell gave nearly $900,000 in loans to
its former city administrator, at least two city council
members, and other city employees.
Charter cities : There are 119 charter cities included in
California's 480 municipalities. Charter cities have more
local control over "municipal affairs," meaning a city law
on a local topic supersedes the corresponding state law
governing the same issue. Many charter cities have specific
ordinances on employee salaries. Less than 400 voters
approved a charter for the City of Bell in a 2005 special
election, which allowed officials there to avoid compliance
with state law that limits salaries of city council members
based on the size of the city.
As noted above, the amendments to this bill specify that
disclosure of salary information for city and county
elected and appointed officials directly contributes to the
fiscal integrity and stability of local government
entities, and is therefore an issue of statewide concern
and not a "municipal affair." This statement is intended to
subject charter cities to the salary disclosure provisions
in the bill, as it is proposed to be amended.
Individual privacy interests vs. public interest in salary
disclosure: Article I, section 1 of the California
Constitution states that "all people are by nature free and
independent and have inalienable rights. Among these are
enjoying and defending life and liberty, acquiring,
possessing, and protecting property, and pursuing and
obtaining safety, happiness, and privacy."
The California Supreme Court has held that a party claiming
a violation of the constitutional right of privacy under
the state constitution must establish (1) a legally
protected privacy interest, (2) a reasonable expectation of
privacy under the circumstances, and (3) a serious invasion
of the privacy interest [ Hill v. National Collegiate
Athletic Assn. (1994) 7 Cal.4th 1].
The California Supreme Court has also concluded that public
employees do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy
in the amount of their salaries [ International Federation
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of Professional and Technical Engineers, Local 21, AFL-CIO
v. Superior Court (2007) 42 Cal.4th 319]. Among other
things, the court has stated that, "to the extent some
public employees may expect their salaries to remain a
private matter, that expectation is not a reasonable one?A
'reasonable' expectation of privacy is an objective
entitlement founded on broadly based and widely accepted
community norms?The 'broadly based and widely accepted
community norm' applicable to government employee salary
information is public disclosure."
Related developments and legislation : AB 1955 (De La
Torre) would require the Controller to determine whether a
city is an excess compensation city. Once a community
redevelopment agency has been notified by the Controller
that the city is an excess compensation city, the agency
would be prohibited from adopting a redevelopment plan for
a new project area or amending an existing redevelopment
plan for existing project areas, from issuing new bonds,
notes or other obligations. AB 1955 is in the Senate
Appropriations Committee as of August 18, 2010.
SB 501 (Correa) would require local government officers and
designated employees to annually file a compensation
disclosure form that would provide for the disclosure of,
among other things, salaries and stipends and
reimbursements received by the officer or designated
employee, and the employer's cost of providing benefits. SB
501 would also require a county, city, city and county,
school district, special district, or joint powers agency
that maintains an Internet Web site to post the information
on the web. SB 501 is on the Assembly Floor as of August
19, 2010.
The state Controller announced recently that all California
cities must report salary information for elected officials
and employees, which will be posted on the Controller's Web
site beginning in November, 2010.
CalPERS has begun a comprehensive review of its members who
earn more than $400,000 annually in salary and has begun to
draft new regulations to ensure increased transparency of
public agency salaries.
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FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
TSM:do 8/22/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: NONE RECEIVED
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