Amended in Senate May 2, 2013

Amended in Senate April 11, 2013

Senate Bill No. 751

Introduced by Senator Yee

February 22, 2013

An act to begin delete add Section 29540 to end delete begin insert amend Section 54953 of end insert the Government Code, relating to local government.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 751, as amended, Yee. begin delete Local planning: metropolitan planning organizations. end delete begin insert Meetings: publication of action taken. end insert

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The Ralph M. Brown Act requires all meetings of the legislative body of a local agency, as defined, to be open and public and prohibits the legislative body from taking action by secret ballot, whether preliminary or final.

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This bill would additionally require the legislative body of a local agency to publicly report any action taken and the vote or abstention on that action of every member present.

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The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

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This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

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Existing law provides for the designation of transportation planning agencies throughout the state with various powers and duties relative to transportation planning and programming. Existing law provides for the allocation of certain transportation funds, including revenues derived from sales tax in the amount of 1⁄4% of the sales in each county, which are deposited in the local transportation fund. Certain transportation planning agencies in urbanized areas are also designated under federal law as metropolitan planning organizations.

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This bill would require a transportation planning agency that is also designated as a metropolitan planning organization to publicly report any action taken, as defined, and the vote or abstention on that action of every member present. By requiring a transportation agency to perform new duties, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

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The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

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This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.

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This bill would authorize the district attorney or any interested person to commence an action for the purpose of obtaining a judicial determination that an action taken by a transportation planning agency in violation of the bill is null and void, as specified.

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Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

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begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

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begin insert Section 54953 of the end insert begin insert Government Code end insert begin insert is
amended to read: end insert

54953.  

(a) All meetings of the legislative body of a local
agency shall be open and public, and all persons shall be permitted
to attend any meeting of the legislative body of a local agency,
except as otherwise provided in this chapter.

(b) (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
legislative body of a local agency may use teleconferencing for
the benefit of the public and the legislative body of a local agency
in connection with any meeting or proceeding authorized by law.
The teleconferenced meeting or proceeding shall comply with all
requirements of this chapter and all otherwise applicable provisions
of law relating to a specific type of meeting or proceeding.

(2) Teleconferencing, as authorized by this section, may be used
for all purposes in connection with any meeting within the subject
matter jurisdiction of the legislative body. All votes taken during
a teleconferenced meeting shall be by rollcall.

(3) If the legislative body of a local agency elects to use
teleconferencing, it shall post agendas at all teleconference
locations and conduct teleconference meetings in a manner that
protects the statutory and constitutional rights of the parties or the
public appearing before the legislative body of a local agency.
Each teleconference location shall be identified in the notice and
agenda of the meeting or proceeding, and each teleconference
location shall be accessible to the public. During the teleconference,
at least a quorum of the members of the legislative body shall
participate from locations within the boundaries of the territory
over which the local agency exercises jurisdiction, except as
provided in subdivision (d). The agenda shall provide an
opportunity for members of the public to address the legislative
body directly pursuant to Section 54954.3 at each teleconference
location.

(4) For the purposes of this section, “teleconference” means a
meeting of a legislative body, the members of which are in different
locations, connected by electronic means, through either audio or
video, or both. Nothing in this section shall prohibit a local agency
from providing the public with additional teleconference locations.

(c)  begin insert (1) end insert begin insert   end insert No legislative body shall take action by secret ballot,
whether preliminary or final.

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(2) The legislative body of a local agency shall publicly report
any action taken and the vote or abstention on that action of every
member present.

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(d) (1) Notwithstanding the provisions relating to a quorum in
paragraph (3) of subdivision (b), when a health authority conducts
a teleconference meeting, members who are outside the jurisdiction
of the authority may be counted toward the establishment of a
quorum when participating in the teleconference if at least 50
percent of the number of members that would establish a quorum
are present within the boundaries of the territory over which the
authority exercises jurisdiction, and the health authority provides
a teleconference number, and associated access codes, if any, that
allows any person to call in to participate in the meeting and that
number and access codes are identified in the notice and agenda
of the meeting.

(2) Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed as
discouraging health authority members from regularly meeting at
a common physical site within the jurisdiction of the authority or
from using teleconference locations within or near the jurisdiction
of the authority. A teleconference meeting for which a quorum is
established pursuant to this subdivision shall be subject to all other
requirements of this section.

(3) For purposes of this subdivision, a health authority means
any entity created pursuant to Sections 14018.7, 14087.31,
14087.35, 14087.36, 14087.38, and 14087.9605 of the Welfare
and Institutions Code, any joint powers authority created pursuant
to Article 1 (commencing with Section 6500) of Chapter 5 of
Division 7 for the purpose of contracting pursuant to Section
14087.3 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, and any advisory
committee to a county sponsored health plan licensed pursuant to
Chapter 2.2 (commencing with Section 1340) of Division 2 of the
Health and Safety Code if the advisory committee has 12 or more
members.

(4) This subdivision shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2018.

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begin insert SEC. 2 end insert begin insert . end insert   

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No reimbursement is required by this act under Section
6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because the only
costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district
under this act are the costs of complying with Chapter 9
(commencing with Section 54950) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title
5 of the Government Code. Subdivision (c) of Section 36 of Article
XIII of the California Constitution provides that costs of this type
are not reimbursable.

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SECTION 1.  

Section 29540 is added to the Government Code,
to read:

29540.  

(a) A transportation planning agency designated
pursuant to Section 29532 or 29532.1 that is also designated as
the metropolitan planning organization for a region pursuant to
Section 134 of Title 23 of the United States Code shall publicly
report any action taken, as defined in Section 54952.6, and the
vote or abstention on that action of every member present.

(b) The district attorney or any interested person may commence
an action pursuant to Section 54960.1 for the purpose of obtaining
a judicial determination that an action taken by a transportation
planning agency in violation of subdivision (a) is null and void.

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SEC. 2.  

If the Commission on State Mandates determines that
this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division
4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.

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