BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1976
Page 1
(Without Reference to File)
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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|COMMITTEE VOTE: |18-0 |(August 30, |RECOMMENDATION: |concur |
| | |2016) | | |
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(G.O.)
Original Committee Reference: G.O.
SUMMARY: Makes several changes to California Avocado Commission
(CAC) and the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act (Bagley-Keene).
AB 1976
Page 2
Specifically, this bill:
1)Changes from four to two the number of avocado handlers
(handlers) as members of the CAC Board (Board).
2)Changes from two to one the number of alternative handlers for
the Board.
3)Deletes provision to having alternative handler members being
assigned to serve as the alternate to specific handler
members.
4)Lowers from 11 to nine member of the Board if there are three
or four CAC districts.
5)Changes information required for a list of CAC producers by
deleting district numbers and adding avocado grove locations.
6)Changes the time from 90 days to 60 days when the list of CAC
producers needs to be sent to CDFA, upon a written request
from CDFA.
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:
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;
AB 1976
Page 3
c) Require at least one member of the commission or council
shall be in attendance at the primary physical meeting
location.
d) 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;
e) 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,
f) 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
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 for these boards, councils, and commissions in
order to encourage participation by directors.
AB 1976
Page 4
EXISTING LAW:
1)Requires that all meetings of a state body be conducted openly
and allow all persons to attend any meeting, with exceptions.
2)Permits a state body from holding a meeting by teleconference
if, among other conditions, each teleconference location is
identified in the notice and agenda of the meeting.
3)Establishes the CAC, composed of 10 producers and four
handlers elected by the industry and one public member
appointed by CDFA.
4)Divides California into five districts representing
approximately 20% of the avocado production.
5)Provides for CAC membership, voting procedures, duties and
powers, assessment rates, recordkeeping, quality standards,
penalties, and referendum procedures including continuance and
termination.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, this bill will incur
negligible state costs.
COMMENTS:
Purpose of the Bill: According to the author: "AB 1976 makes a
change to teleconference meetings for certain agricultural
programs. Many members of agricultural marketing programs
reside in remote locations across the state which make
teleconferences great tools for conducting meetings. Current
law requires a physical location to be posted for every member
of the meeting. However, many members may call from a vehicle
AB 1976
Page 5
or need to move locations due to last minute emergencies. Due
to the nature of these programs, this can create an undue burden
for members of the commission who may not have a stable location
and therefore would be in violation of the law. To ensure the
public has access to the meetings and accommodate the members of
these unique groups, this bill requires that one physical
location be posted in the agenda for meetings with at least one
member present. The bill still ensures that phone numbers be
provided for public participation. This will allow members of
the public to access meetings at their convenience, either in
person or by phone, while taking into consideration unique
difficulties facing members of these agricultural programs."
Background: When the Legislature enacted the Bagley-Keene Act
of 1967 it essentially said that when a body sits down to
develop its consensus, there needs to be a seat at the table
reserved for the public. In doing so, the Legislature has
provided the public with the ability to monitor and be part of
the decision-making process. Bagley-Keene explicitly mandates
open meetings for California State agencies, boards, and
commissions and facilitates transparency of government
activities and protects the rights of citizens to participate in
state government deliberations. Therefore, absent a specific
reason to keep the public out of meetings, the public should be
allowed to monitor and participate in the decision-making
process. Similarly, the California's Brown Act of 1953 protects
citizen's rights to open meetings at the local and county
government levels.
Bagley-Keene provides if a meeting is held via teleconference,
it shall comply with the following requirements:
1)The meeting shall be audibly accessible at the location
specified in the meeting notice.
2)Agendas shall be posted at all teleconference locations.
3)Each teleconference location shall be identified in the notice
and agenda and be accessible to the public.
AB 1976
Page 6
4)All votes shall be taken by roll call.
5)At least one member shall be physically present at the
location specified in the meeting notice.
By exempting agricultural state bodies from the
telecommunication location requirements as stated above, this
bill imposes a limitation on the public's right of access to
meetings. This bill finds that these limitations are needed to
protect the state's interest to encourage participation by
directors, many of which are located in remote areas that are
difficult for the public to access.
Commissions and Councils: There are approximately 16 active
commissions and councils, all of which are governed by boards of
directors and overseen by the California Department of Food and
Agriculture (CDFA). These entities were created to enhance
their industries by investing in promotion, advertising,
education, marketing research, scientific research, and/or the
creation and regulation of quality standards. Generally,
commissions and councils are initiated by the industry and go
into effect following an affirmative industry referendum vote
and, at times, a periodic vote to reaffirm their existence.
Once in effect, every member of the industry, as specified, is
required to follow all laws and regulations including, but not
limited to, the payment of assessment fees.
Unlike marketing orders and marketing agreements, commissions
and councils are created through commodity-specific legislation.
Generally, councils are advisory to CDFA and all actions are
subject to CDFA approval. Commissions have greater autonomy and
do not serve an advisory purpose; however, CDFA must concur with
their annual budget and activities statement, and CDFA has the
authority to issue cease and desist orders to commission actions
that CDFA deems to not be in the public interest.
AB 1976
Page 7
There are many other agricultural advisory boards and committees
that were not created by Divisions 21 and 22 of the Food and
Agricultural Code and, therefore, not included in this bill. A
short list includes the Certified Farmers' Market Advisory
Committee, the Fertilizer Inspection Advisory Board, the
Livestock Identification Advisory Board, the Seed Advisory
Board, and the State Board of Food and Agriculture. Generally,
these entities advise the secretary of CDFA on issues regarding
regulations rather than commodity-specific marketing and
promotional activities. This bill is narrowly tailored to
address only the agricultural marketing and promotional advisory
boards, commissions, and councils.
Prior/Related Legislation:
SB 103 (Liu), of 2011-12. Would have made substantive changes
to provisions of the Act relating to teleconference meetings.
(Died Assembly Appropriations Suspense File)
SB 962 (Liu), Chapter 482, Statutes of 2010. Allowed the use of
videoconferencing and teleconferencing at the court's discretion
and subject to availability for prisoners to participate in
court proceedings for the termination of their parental rights
or the court ordered dependency petition of their child.
SB 519 (Committee on Governmental Organization), Chapter 92,
Statutes of 2007. Amended the Bagley-Keene Act to authorize the
calling of a special meeting to provide for an interim executive
officer of a state body upon the death, incapacity, or vacancy
in the office of the executive officer.
AB 277 (Mountjoy), Chapter 288, Statutes of 2005. Made
permanent certain provisions authorizing closed sessions for
purposes of discussing security related issues pertaining to a
state body.
AB 1976
Page 8
AB 192 (Canciamilla), Chapter 243, Statutes of 2001. Made
various changes to the Bagley-keene Act, which governs meetings
held by state bodies, to make it consistent with provisions of
the Ralph M. Brown Act, which governs meetings of legislative
bodies of local agencies.
SB 95 (Ayala), Chapter 949, Statutes of 1997. Made various
changes to the Bagley-Knee Act by expanding the notice,
disclosure and reporting requirements for open and closed
meetings of state bodies.
Analysis Prepared by:
Kenton Stanhope / G.O. / (916) 319-2531 FN: 0005011