BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                    AB 1976


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          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:








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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  








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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. 










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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.  








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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