BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1976
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB
1976 (Irwin and Williams)
As Amended August 19, 2016
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |76-0 |(April 14, |SENATE: | 39-0 | (August 23, |
| | |2016) | | |2016) |
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Original Committee Reference: AGRI.
SUMMARY: This bill would reduce the number of avocado handler
(handler) members on the California Avocado Commission (CAC) and
reduce the time permitted to submit producer information to the
California Department of Food and Agriculture. This bill also
removes the requirement to post the physical location for
teleconference meetings required under the Bagley-Keene Open
Meeting Act for agricultural marketing and advisory boards,
commissions and councils, as specified.
The Senate amendments:
1)Change the Bagley-Keene open meeting act teleconferencing for
agricultural marketing and advisory boards, commissions and
councils (advisory board) from requiring a physical location
for each board member participating by teleconference to be
noticed and open to the public to the following:
AB 1976
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a) Require any member of the advisory board that
participates by teleconference be listed in the minutes of
the meeting and provide at least 24 hour notice prior to
the meeting;
b) Require, for an advisory board having a teleconference
meeting to provide a primary physical location of the
advisory board meeting open to the public;
c) Require, for an advisory board having a teleconference
meeting, the meeting agenda to contain the teleconference
phone number, Web site or other information that grant the
public access to the meeting;
d) State that this section does not exempt the advisory
board from providing information for physical location of
meeting and any teleconferencing participation information,
as specified; and,
e) Require the advisory board, prior to a teleconference
meeting, to adopt teleconference guidelines that include,
but are not limited to, cancellation due to technical
issues, ensuring transparency, and public access.
2)Make technical and clarifying amendments related to the
election of handlers and their alternates for CAC.
3)Exempt from the definition of avocado producer or grower,
persons who produced less than an annual average of 10,000
pounds of avocado annually in the last three years.
4)Require handlers who are nominated and elected to CAC to have
handled at least 1% of the total volume of industry avocados
AB 1976
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in the previous year and require, once elected, the handlers
maintain these eligibility requirements.
5)Make findings and declarations that it is in the state's
interest to revise the requirements for teleconferences of the
Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act for these boards, councils, and
commissions in order to encourage participation by directors.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Requires, with specified exceptions, that all meetings of a
state body, as defined, be open and public and all persons be
permitted to attend any meeting of a state body.
2)Requires a state body subject to the open meeting requirements
that conducts a meeting or proceeding by teleconference to
post agendas at all teleconference locations and requires each
teleconference location to be accessible to the public.
3)Requires the state body to provide an opportunity for members
of the public to address the state body directly from any
teleconference location.
4)Provides for CAC membership and voting procedures.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY, this bill dealt only with the
adjustment to the CAC board.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, this bill, as was passed out of the Assembly, has
negligible fiscal impact. Costs related to the change in the
Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act are unknown.
AB 1976
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COMMENTS: According to the author, many agricultural and
seafood industry commissions and advisory boards have chosen to
conduct their meetings via teleconference to ease participation
by the members. Current law requires these boards to post the
locations of teleconference meetings in accordance with the
Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act. Many members of these boards are
in remote locations across the state and often call in from a
vehicle. As the purpose of having a teleconference is to
accommodate members to participate, posting a physical location
creates an undue burden for the group who may not have one and
therefore be in violation of the law. This bill does not change
the requirement that phone numbers be provided for public
participation, but only removes the posted location obligation.
By removing the requirement to post the physical location for
teleconference meetings, supporters say it will allow more, not
less, participation in meetings.
The Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act allows for teleconferencing,
with the requirement that 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. Since 2001, when this portion of the law was
written, there have been many advances in telecommunication,
including more teleconferencing options such as free services
that make it much easier and less expensive for people to
participate. Furthermore, cell phone ownership has grown from
28% of the United States (US) population in 2000 to 91% by 2013,
which has also changed the ways and places people can use their
phones. These advances in technology have rendered the need for
a physical location for teleconferencing outdated, especially if
the alternative is to not have teleconferencing at all, due to
the current requirements.
Supporters of this bill state that it is impractical to include
the address for each location and that participation by
directors will be adversely affected. For example, a director
could not continue their participation if they moved to a
different location for any reason. Also, if a director cannot
participate, it may cause the meeting to be cancelled which
adversely affects timely decision making by the advisory boards.
AB 1976
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This bill was substantially amended in the Senate. This bill,
as amended in the Senate, is inconsistent with the Assembly
action, and provisions of this bill have not been heard in an
Assembly Policy Committee.
Analysis Prepared by:
Victor Francovich / AGRI. / (916) 319-2084 FN:
0004785