Amended in Assembly April 11, 2016

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 2257

Introduced by Assembly Member Maienschein

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(Coauthors: Assembly Members Brough, Chang, and Jones)

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(Coauthor: Senator Bates)

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February 18, 2016

An act to amend Section 54954.2 of the Government Code, relating to local government.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2257, as amended, Maienschein. Local agency meetings: agenda: online posting.

The Ralph M. Brown Act enables the legislative body of a local agency to call both regular and special meetings. The act requires the legislative body of a local agency to post, at least 72 hours before the meeting, an agenda containing a brief general description of each item of business to be transacted or discussed at a regular meeting, in a location that is freely accessible to members of the public and to provide a notice containing similar information with respect to a special meeting at least 24 hours prior to the special meeting. The act requires that the agenda or notice be freely accessible to members of the public and be posted on the local agency’s Internet Web site, if the local agency has one.

This bill would require an online posting of an agenda by a local agency to have a prominent direct link to the current agenda itself. The bill would require the link to be on the local agency’s Internet Web site homepage, not in a contextual menu on the homepage, and would require the agenda to be posted in begin delete compliance with a specified section of law. end delete begin insert an open format that meets specified requirements, including that the agenda is platform independent and machine readable. end insert

The California Constitution requires local agencies, for the purpose of ensuring public access to the meetings of public bodies and the writings of public officials and agencies, to comply with a statutory enactment that amends or enacts laws relating to public records or open meetings and contains findings demonstrating that the enactment furthers the constitutional requirements relating to this purpose.

This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section 54954.2 of the Government Code is
amended to read:

54954.2.  

(a) (1) At least 72 hours before a regular meeting,
the legislative body of the local agency, or its designee, shall post
an agenda containing a brief general description of each item of
business to be transacted or discussed at the meeting, including
items to be discussed in closed session. A brief general description
of an item generally need not exceed 20 words. The agenda shall
specify the time and location of the regular meeting and shall be
posted in a location that is freely accessible to members of the
public and on the local agency’s Internet Web site, if the local
agency has one. begin delete An online posting of an agenda shall have a
prominent, direct link to the current agenda itself from the local
agency’s homepage. The link shall be included on the local
agency’s homepage, not in a contextual menu on the homepage,
and the agenda shall be posted in accordance with the requirements
of subdivisions (a), (b), and (c) of Section 6253.10, if applicable. end delete
If requested, the agenda shall be made available in appropriate
alternative formats to persons with a disability, as required by
Section 202 of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42
U.S.C. Sec. 12132), and the federal rules and regulations adopted
in implementation thereof. The agenda shall include information
regarding how, to whom, and when a request for disability-related
modification or accommodation, including auxiliary aids or
services, may be made by a person with a disability who requires
a modification or accommodation in order to participate in the
public meeting.

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(A) An online posting of an agenda shall be posted on the local
agency’s homepage accessible through a prominent, direct link
to the current agenda.

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(B) The direct link to the agenda required shall not be in a
contextual menu.

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(C) The agenda shall be posted in an open format that meets
all of the following requirements:

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(i) Retrievable, downloadable, indexable, and electronically
searchable by commonly used Internet search applications.

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(ii) Platform independent and machine readable.

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(iii) Available to the public free of charge and without any
restriction that would impede the reuse or redistribution of the
public record.

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(D) The requirements of subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) shall
be deemed satisfied if the legislative body of a board, commission,
or agency of a county, city, whether general or chartered, city and
county, town, school district, municipal corporation, district, or
political subdivision posts an agenda, in compliance with
subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C), on the homepage of the board,
commission, or agency. Subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) shall not
be construed to require the agenda for a meeting of a board,
commission, or agency to be posted on the homepage of the local
agency that created the board, commission, or agency.

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(2) No action or discussion shall be undertaken on any item not
appearing on the posted agenda, except that members of a
legislative body or its staff may briefly respond to statements made
or questions posed by persons exercising their public testimony
rights under Section 54954.3. In addition, on their own initiative
or in response to questions posed by the public, a member of a
legislative body or its staff may ask a question for clarification,
make a brief announcement, or make a brief report on his or her
own activities. Furthermore, a member of a legislative body, or
the body itself, subject to rules or procedures of the legislative
body, may provide a reference to staff or other resources for factual
information, request staff to report back to the body at a subsequent
meeting concerning any matter, or take action to direct staff to
place a matter of business on a future agenda.

(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), the legislative body may
take action on items of business not appearing on the posted agenda
under any of the conditions stated below. Prior to discussing any
item pursuant to this subdivision, the legislative body shall publicly
identify the item.

(1) Upon a determination by a majority vote of the legislative
body that an emergency situation exists, as defined in Section
54956.5.

(2) Upon a determination by a two-thirds vote of the members
of the legislative body present at the meeting, or, if less than
two-thirds of the members are present, a unanimous vote of those
members present, that there is a need to take immediate action and
that the need for action came to the attention of the local agency
subsequent to the agenda being posted as specified in subdivision
(a).

(3) The item was posted pursuant to subdivision (a) for a prior
meeting of the legislative body occurring not more than five
calendar days prior to the date action is taken on the item, and at
the prior meeting the item was continued to the meeting at which
action is being taken.

(c) This section is necessary to implement and reasonably within
the scope of paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 3 of Article
I of the California Constitution.

(d) For purposes of subdivision (a), the requirement that the
agenda be posted on the local agency’s Internet Web site, if the
local agency has one, shall only apply to a legislative body that
meets either of the following standards:

(1) A legislative body as that term is defined by subdivision (a)
of Section 54952.

(2) A legislative body as that term is defined by subdivision (b)
of Section 54952, if the members of the legislative body are
compensated for their appearance, and if one or more of the
members of the legislative body are also members of a legislative
body as that term is defined by subdivision (a) of Section 54952.

SEC. 2.  

The Legislature finds and declares that Section 1 of
this act, which amends Section 54954.2 of the Government Code,
furthers, within the meaning of paragraph (7) of subdivision (b)
of Section 3 of Article I of the California Constitution, the purposes
of that constitutional section as it relates to the right of public
access to the meetings of local public bodies or the writings of
local public officials and local agencies. Pursuant to paragraph (7)
of subdivision (b) of Section 3 of Article I of the California
Constitution, the Legislature makes the following findings:

It is in the public interest to ensure that members of the public
can easily and quickly find and access meeting agendas on the
Internet homepage of local agencies.

SEC. 3.  

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district under this act would result from a legislative mandate that
is within the scope of paragraph (7) of subdivision (b) of Section
3 of Article I of the California Constitution.