BILL ANALYSIS Ó Bill No: AB 2720 SENATE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION Senator Lou Correa, Chair 2013-2014 Regular Session Staff Analysis AB 2720 Author: Ting As Amended: April 2, 2014 Hearing Date: June 10, 2014 Consultant: Paul Donahue SUBJECT State agencies: Meetings; Record of actions taken DESCRIPTION Requires a state body to publicly report any action taken at an open meeting, and the vote or abstention on that action, of each member present for the action. EXISTING LAW 1)The Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act requires all meetings of a state body to be open and public, and that all persons be permitted to attend and participate in any meeting of a state body. 2)Defines a "state body" as each of the following: a) Every state board, or commission, or similar multimember body of the state that is created by statute or required by law to conduct official meetings and every commission created by executive order. b) A board, commission, committee, or similar multimember body that exercises any authority of a state body delegated to it by that state body. c) An advisory board, advisory commission, advisory AB 2720 (Ting) continued Page 2 committee, advisory subcommittee, or similar multimember advisory body of a state body, if created by formal action of the state body or of any member of the state body, and if the advisory body so created consists of three or more persons. d) A board, commission, committee, or similar multimember body on which a member of a body that is a state body pursuant to this section serves in his or her official capacity as a representative of that state body and that is supported, in whole or in part, by funds provided by the state body, whether the multimember body is organized and operated by the state body or by a private corporation. 3)Defines "action taken" as a collective decision by the members of a state body, a collective commitment or promise by the members of the state body to make a positive or negative decision or an actual vote by the members of a state body when sitting as a body or entity upon a motion, proposal, resolution, order or similar action. BACKGROUND Purpose : According to the author, current law requires that the meetings of state boards and commissions be open to the public, so that their deliberations and actions are conducted in service of the public's interest. However, there is no specific requirement that actions taken by state boards and commissions during regular meetings are publicly reported and reveal vote or abstention of each member present for the action. Consequently, there are multiple examples of state boards and commissions that do not make this important information readily accessible to the public. Final votes are often reported, for example, as 20 Ayes and 10 Noes, making it impossible to determine how individual members, who represent different industry interests, voted on the action taken. Some votes do not even report the final vote numerically, only reporting whether the action passed or failed. If a member of the public was not able to attend the meeting, then it is impossible for that individual to be wholly informed about the outcome of the action taken. AB 2720 (Ting) continued Page 3 The author states that AB 2720 would strengthen California's commitment to open and transparent governance by requiring all state boards and commissions to count, identify, and publicly disclose all votes on actions taken during meetings. This bill will ensure that the public has complete information about the decisions made by state bodies, so they are held accountable to the public interest. Bagley-Keene Act : When the Legislature enacted the Bagley-Keene Act of 1967 it essentially said that when a body sits down to develop its consensus, there needs to be a seat at the table reserved for the public. In doing so, the Legislature has provided the public with the ability to monitor and be part of the decision-making process. Bagley-Keene explicitly mandates open meetings for California State agencies, boards, and commissions. It facilitates transparency of government activities and protects the rights of citizens to participate in state government deliberations. Therefore, absent a specific reason to keep the public out of meetings, the public should be allowed to monitor and participate in the decision-making process. Similarly, the California's Brown Act of 1953 protects citizen's rights to open meetings at the local and county government levels. Ralph M. Brown Act (Brown Act) : Although Bagley-Keene ensures open meetings at the state level, the Brown Act governs open meetings at the local level. Last year, the Legislature unanimously approved and the Governor signed SB 751 (Yee), which guaranteed that local agencies publicly report the vote of each member of their governing bodies on actions taken. AB 2720 will make conforming changes to the Bagley-Keene Act to ensure that all state boards and commissions are similarly held accountable to the public they serve. Arguments in support : The California Taxpayers Association (CalTax) states that all levels of government need to continue to promote a transparent government. Empowering people to engage in government allows them to become stakeholders in the political process. Giving access, in turn, allows people to see how their government is run, and how policymakers' decisions will impact their lives. The California Newspaper Publishers Association states that AB 2720 (Ting) continued Page 4 the need for AB 2720 arose when several state agencies governed by the Bagley-Keene Act, failed to conduct either a roll call vote or a specific tally and report the votes of each member of the boards. Consequently, constituents found it difficult, if not impossible to determine who voted for or against a measure when the agencies took action. AB 2720 would prevent anonymous voting by large agencies and would improve the ability of the public and others who monitor legislative meetings of state agencies to be certain of how members vote on an issue. The costs associated with the implementation of AB 2720 would be minimal because the task of identifying how a member votes is a simple one requiring little, if any, effort by the agency to perform. PRIOR/RELATED LEGISLATION AB 2058 (Wilk), 2013-2014 Session. Would modify the definition of "state body" to clarify that standing committees, even if composed of less than three members, are a "state body" for the purposes of the Bagley-Keene Act. (Pending in Senate G.O. Committee) SB 751 (Yee), Chapter 257, Statutes of 2013. Requires local agencies to publicly report any action taken and the vote or abstention of each member of a legislative body. SUPPORT: California Newspaper Publishers Association California Taxpayers Association OPPOSE: None on file FISCAL COMMITTEE: No. ********** AB 2720 (Ting) continued Page 5