BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 751
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Date of Hearing: July 3, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
SB 751 (Yee) - As Amended: June 17, 2013
Policy Committee: Local
GovernmentVote:9-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill requires local agencies to publicly report the vote of
each member of their governing bodies on actions taken. This
bill also requires the legislative body of a local agency to
publicly report any action taken and the vote or abstention on
that action of each member present for the action.
FISCAL EFFECT
Negligible fiscal impact. The bill contains provisions that no
reimbursement is required by this bill because the only costs
that may be incurred by a local agency or school district under
this bill are not reimbursable given recent amendments to the
California Constitution to specify that state reimbursement is
not required for Brown Act requirements. If the Commission on
State Mandates disagrees with the rationale for exemption from
reimbursement, it is still unlikely the additional costs created
by this bill would meet the criteria for a successful
reimbursement claim.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . According to the author, SB 751 seeks to remedy a
situation where a legislative body does not report to the
public the individual votes of members. Some legislative
bodies only report to the public the final vote, for example:
20 Ayes to 11 Noes. The author states for any member of the
public who is unable to attend the meeting or hearing, holding
a representative or board member accountable is nearly
impossible. Although the Brown Act prohibits legislative
bodies of a local agency from conducting a vote by secret
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ballot, the Act is silent on the reporting of individual votes
to the public. The author argues SB 751 would establish a
reasonable requirement on Brown Act bodies to report the
individual votes of members for actions taken. The author
concludes this bill will ensure that when the people's
business is conducted, it is conducted in an open, transparent
and accountable manner.
2)Support . The California Newspaper Publishers Association
supports SB 751 because even though the Brown Act prohibits
members of a legislative body from using secret ballots when
taking action, it does not require members to publicly report
the votes cast in an open and public meeting. Supporters
argue the need for SB 751 arose when the Association of Bay
Area Governments (ABAG) failed to conduct either a roll call
vote or a specific tally and report the votes of each member
of the board. Supporters conclude SB 751 would prevent
anonymous voting by large agencies and would improve the
ability of the public and others who monitor legislative
meetings of local agencies to be certain of how members vote
on an issue.
3)Background . The Ralph M. Brown Act requires all meetings of
the legislative body of a local agency be open and public and
all persons are permitted to attend any meeting of the
legislative body of a local agency, except as otherwise
provided. The Brown Act requires local agencies to report the
vote or abstention of every member present for specified
closed meetings or for meetings that utilize teleconferencing.
However, the Brown Act does not require agencies to report
the vote of individual members at other public meetings,
including those open to the public, with certain exceptions.
For example all investment transaction decisions made during a
closed session held to consider the purchase or sale of
particular, pension fund investments must be made by roll call
vote entered into the minutes of the closed session.
4)There is no registered opposition to this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Roger Dunstan / APPR. / (916) 319-2081
SB 751
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