BILL ANALYSIS Ó SENATE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNANCE AND FINANCE Senator Robert M. Hertzberg, Chair 2015 - 2016 Regular ------------------------------------------------------------------ |Bill No: |AB 1787 |Hearing |6/29/16 | | | |Date: | | |----------+---------------------------------+-----------+---------| |Author: |Gomez |Tax Levy: |No | |----------+---------------------------------+-----------+---------| |Version: |6/16/16 |Fiscal: |Yes | ------------------------------------------------------------------ ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Consultant|Favorini-Csorba | |: | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Open meetings: public comments: translation Requires local agency legislative bodies to allow at least twice as much time to members of the public commenting through a translator. Background The Brown Act. The Ralph M. Brown Act (Brown Act), first enacted by the Legislature in 1953, is the set of state laws which guarantees the public's right to attend and participate in local legislative bodies' meetings. The Brown Act establishes procedures to ensure public access to information maintained by local agencies and that the decisions made by public agencies are done in an open and transparent fashion to retain public control over those agencies. Local agencies subject to the Brown Act include cities, charter cities, counties, school districts, special districts, and other political subdivisions of the state. The Brown Act establishes the presumption that business of local agencies' legislative bodies must be conducted in open and public meetings. Among other things, the Brown Act requires the legislative body of a local agency to provide the public with the opportunity to comment on each agenda item, subject to reasonable regulations (such as time limits on individual testimony) that further the intent of the Brown Act to allow AB 1787 (Gomez) 6/16/16 Page 2 of ? public input. Kettleman City. Kettleman City is 3.5 miles northeast of a large hazardous waste treatment and storage facility that has raised environmental justice issues over the past 30 years. Driven by concerns over environmental violations and pollution exposure, Kettleman City residents have fought King County's plans to expand the facility. Kettleman City residents are predominantly Latino and low-income. In 1991, residents blocked a plan to expand the waste management facility by successfully arguing that the failure to provide a summary of environmental documents in Spanish violated the California Environmental Quality Act. More recently, residents protested a subsequent expansion proposal at a Kings County board of supervisors meeting, but testimony was limited and no extension of allotted time was granted to speakers using a translator. Bagley-Keene Open Meetings Act. The Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act (Bagley-Keene Act) requires state bodies-boards and commissions with multiple members-to hold open meetings. State bodies must publicly notice their meetings, prepare agendas, accept public testimony, and conduct their meetings in public unless specifically authorized by the Act to meet in closed session. Like local agencies, state bodies must provide the public with the opportunity to comment on each agenda item and may similarly adopt reasonable rules to ensure equal access. In 2012, the Legislature amended the Bagley-Keene Act to require a state body to provide at least twice as much time to any individual using a translator when the body limits testimony, unless the body uses simultaneous translation technology that allows the body to hear the translation simultaneously (SB 965, Wright, 2012). Some legislators want to extend these requirements to local agencies. Proposed Law Assembly Bill 1787 requires the legislative body of a local agency that imposes time limits on public comment to provide at least twice the allotted time to a member of the public that speaks through a translator. A local agency does not need to meet this requirement if it provides simultaneous translation equipment that allows the legislative body to hear the translation simultaneously. AB 1787 (Gomez) 6/16/16 Page 3 of ? State Revenue Impact No estimate. Comments 1. Purpose of the bill . The right to comment on government decisions is fundamental to ensuring that the perspectives of everyday Californians are heard and considered by their representatives. California draws residents from all over the world, including individuals that speak a primary language other than English. Yet some local agencies, in a desire to expedite their decisions, limit the testimony of these residents by imposing time limits that do not consider the need for a translator to make their voices heard. These limitations violate the spirit of the Brown Act, if not the letter of the law. AB 1787 ensures that local agencies provide all Californians with equal opportunity to comment by doubling the time allotted for those that need translators. State boards and commissions already have to meet this requirement, and most local agencies conduct meetings this way as well. AB 1787 simply ensures that the requirements for those remaining agencies are clear. 2. Technical amendment . The Legislative Counsel digest for AB 1787 cites the incorrect code section that the bill is amending. The Committee may wish to consider amending AB 1787 to correct this reference. 3. Related legislation . AB 1330 (Perez, 2014) would have required local agencies that limit testimony to not count the testimony of translators towards the allotted speaking time for non-English speakers, in addition to requiring CALEPA to post on its website a searchable database of all permits and enforcement actions issued by state departments within CALEPA. AB 1330 died in the Senate Rules Committee. AB 194 (Campos, 2014) would have imposed an identical requirement to not count translator testimony, as well as imposed other restrictions on the ability of local agency legislative bodies to limit testimony, such as prohibiting the legislative body from cutting off comment by a member of the public based on his or her viewpoint where the AB 1787 (Gomez) 6/16/16 Page 4 of ? comment is within the subject matter jurisdiction of the legislative body. AB 194 was vetoed by the Governor, with the following veto message: "This bill amends the Ralph M. Brown Act to allow individuals who attend local agency meetings to speak before and during an agenda item, a common practice. The bill restates that local agencies shall not prohibit public criticism at meetings. Finally, the bill prescribes how time should be allotted to each speaker. California has robust policies and longstanding laws in place that promote an open and transparent government and guarantee public decision making. This bill adds certain procedures to the Brown Act, which at best will elongate but in no way enhance the quality of debate at the local level." 4. Mandate . The California Constitution generally requires the state to reimburse local agencies for their costs when the state imposes new programs or additional duties on them. In 2014 California voters approved Proposition 42, which amended the California Constitution to eliminate the state's responsibility to pay local governments for compliance with the Brown Act and its amendments. According to the Legislative Counsel's Office, AB 1787 creates a new state-mandated local program. But this bill disclaims the state's responsibility for reimbursing local agencies by including findings and declarations that the bill amends the Brown Act and furthers its purposes. 5. New bill, prior votes not relevant . As passed by the Assembly, AB 1787 contained provisions relating to environmental protection. The Senate Governance & Finance Committee never heard that version of the bill. The June 16 amendments deleted AB 1787's contents and inserted the current language relating to open meetings. Assembly Actions Not relevant to the June 16, 2016 version of the bill. Support and Opposition (6/23/16) AB 1787 (Gomez) 6/16/16 Page 5 of ? Support : California Special Districts Association; California State Association of Counties; League of California Cities. Opposition : Unknown. -- END --