BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2257
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Date of Hearing: April 20, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Susan Talamantes Eggman, Chair
AB 2257
(Maienschein) - As Amended April 11, 2016
SUBJECT: Local agency meetings: agenda: online posting.
SUMMARY: Imposes additional requirements for online postings of
agendas for the public meetings of local agency governing
bodies. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires an online posting of an agenda to be posted on the
local agency's homepage accessible through a prominent, direct
link to the current agenda.
2)Prohibits the direct link to the agenda from being in a
contextual menu.
3)Requires the agenda to be posted in an open format that meets
all of the following requirements:
a) Retrievable, downloadable, indexable, and electronically
searchable by commonly used Internet search applications;
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b) Platform independent and machine readable; and,
c) Available to the public free of charge and without any
restriction that would impede the reuse or redistribution
of the public record.
4)Provides that the requirements of 1) through 3), above, 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 1) through 3), above, on the
homepage of the board, commission, or agency. The provisions
of 1) through 3), above, 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.
5)Finds and declares that Section 1 of the bill 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 and
declares, pursuant to paragraph (7) of subdivision (b) of
Section 3 of Article I of the California Constitution, that
the Legislature makes the following findings:
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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.
6)Provides that no reimbursement is required by this bill
because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency
or school district under this bill 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.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Requires, pursuant to the Ralph M. Brown Act (Brown Act), that
all meetings of a legislative body of a local agency be open
and public and all persons be permitted to attend, unless a
closed session is authorized.
2)Requires, at least 72 hours before a regular meeting, the
legislative body of the local agency, or its designee, to 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.
3)Requires the legislative body of a local agency to post the
agenda for a regular meeting at least 72 hours in advance on
the local agency's Internet Web site (website), if the local
agency has one and if the legislative body is one of the
following:
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a) The governing body of a local agency or any other local
body created by state or federal statute; or,
b) A commission, committee, board, or other body of a local
agency, whether permanent or temporary, decision-making or
advisory, created by charter, ordinance, resolution, or
formal action of a legislative body if the members are
compensated for their appearance and if one or more of the
members also are members of a legislative body of a local
agency or any other local body created by state or federal
statute, as specified.
4)Requires local agencies that maintain an Internet Resource
described as "open data" and that choose to post public
records on that Internet Resource to use a format that:
a) Is retrievable, downloadable, indexable, and
electronically searchable by commonly used Internet search
applications;
b) Is platform independent and machine readable;
c) Is available to the public free of charge and without
any restriction that would impede the reuse or
redistribution of the public record; and,
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d) Retains the data definitions and structure present when
the data was compiled, if applicable.
FISCAL EFFECT: This bill is keyed fiscal.
COMMENTS:
1)Bill Summary. This bill requires an online posting of an
agenda for a local agency's regular meetings to be posted on
the local agency's homepage accessible through a prominent,
direct link to the current agenda. The direct link to the
agenda cannot be in a contextual menu. The agenda must be
posted in an open format that is: retrievable, downloadable,
indexable, and electronically searchable by commonly used
Internet search applications; platform independent and machine
readable; and, available to the public free of charge and
without any restriction that would impede the reuse or
redistribution of the public record.
These requirements will 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 on the homepage of the
board, commission, or agency. The online agenda posting
requirements are not to 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.
This bill is sponsored by GrassrootsLab.
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2)Author's Statement. According to the author, "Under the Ralph
M. Brown Act, the legislative body of a local agency is
required to post an agenda no less than 72 hours prior to a
meeting. The agenda must be freely accessible to members of
the public, in addition to being posted on the local agency's
website, if they have one. The Ralph M. Brown Act was passed
by the legislature in 1953 to ensure transparency and openness
in local governing meetings. Since its original passage over
60 years ago, technology has changed significantly. These
advances have thus lead to many needed updates to allow for
continued and reasonable access to information by the public.
"This legislation addresses two key deficiencies in current
law; format and accessibility of online postings. Posting an
agenda can mean many different things with respect to
visibility and accessibility of the document. Many agendas
are buried in agency websites or otherwise not intuitively
navigable by a site visitor. Formatting may restrict the
capacity for citizens to search for or access agenda
information?AB 2257 will update the Ralph M. Brown Act by
ensuring that meeting agendas are posted in a consistent,
visible location on the homepage of the local agency's
internet website. It specifies that it must be a prominent,
direct link to the agenda and prevents the link being buried.
Importantly, this bill also specifies that agendas be posted
in a machine-readable format, meaning the documents can be
indexed and searched by commonly used search engines and other
tools."
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3)Background. The Brown Act requires the meetings of local
governments' legislative bodies to be "open and public,"
thereby ensuring people's access to information so they may
retain control over the public agencies that serve them. The
Brown Act requires a local agency to post an agenda for a
regular meeting of its legislative body at least 72 hours
before the meeting in a location that is freely accessible to
members of the public.
AB 1344 (Feuer and Alejo), Chapter 692, Statutes of 2011,
required (among other things) the legislative body of a local
agency to post the agenda for a regular meeting at least 72
hours in advance on the local agency's website, if the local
agency has one. This requirement applies to any legislative
body that is one of the following:
a) The governing body of a local agency or any other local
body created by state or federal statute; or,
b) A commission, committee, board, or other body of a local
agency, whether permanent or temporary, decision-making or
advisory, created by charter, ordinance, resolution, or
formal action of a legislative body if the members are
compensated for their appearance and if one or more of the
members also are members of a legislative body of a local
agency or any other local body created by state or federal
statute, as specified.
4)Open Data. The Open Data movement is rapidly growing in
popularity and recognition, both nationally and in California.
Computer technology has advanced to provide open format
software, which allows electronic documents created and
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maintained by public agencies to be searched, indexed, and
redacted electronically.
In 2009, in order to increase government agency
accountability, promote informed public participation, and
create economic opportunity through expanding access to
information online in open formats, the United States Director
of the Office of Management and Budget issued an Open
Government Directive to federal government agencies. This
Directive provided guidelines to public agencies responding to
public requests under the Freedom of Information Act and
instructed federal government agencies to "publish information
online in an open format that can be retrieved, downloaded,
indexed, and searched by commonly used web search
applications."
The California Legislature began reviewing open data
legislation last year. Among numerous bills considered was AB
169 (Maienschein), Chapter 737, Statutes of 2015.
AB 169 required local agencies that maintain an Internet
Resource described as "open data" and that choose to post
public records on that Internet Resource to use a format that:
a) Is retrievable, downloadable, indexable, and
electronically searchable by commonly used Internet search
applications;
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b) Is platform independent and machine readable;
c) Is available to the public free of charge and without
any restriction that would impede the reuse or
redistribution of the public record; and,
d) Retains the data definitions and structure present when
the data was compiled, if applicable.
AB 2257 is modeled after AB 169 and applies most of the open
data requirements of AB 169 to the agendas that local agencies
post on their websites for their regular meetings.
5)Proposition 42. Proposition 42 was passed by voters on June
3, 2014, and requires all local governments to comply with the
California Public Records Act and the Ralph M. Brown Act and
with any subsequent changes to those Acts. Proposition 42
also eliminated reimbursement to local agencies for costs of
complying with the California Public Records Act and the Ralph
M. Brown Act.
This bill contains language that says that the Legislature
finds and declares that Section 1
of the bill furthers the purpose of the California
Constitution as it relates to the right of public access to
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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
Constitution, the bill also includes a finding that says that
"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."
Section 3 of the bill specifies that no reimbursement for
local agencies to implement the bill's provisions is necessary
because "the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency
or school district?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."
6)Previous Legislation. AB 169 (Maienschein), Chapter 737,
Statutes of 2015, required local agencies to use specified
open data standards if they maintain an Internet Resource that
is described or titled as "open data" and if they choose to
post public records on that Internet Resource.
SB 272 (Hertzberg), Chapter 795, Statutes of 2015, required
cities, counties, special districts, and joint powers
authorities, by July 2016, to create a catalogue of their
enterprise systems and make the catalog available to the
public, including on the agency's website.
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AB 1344 (Feuer and Alejo), Chapter 692, Statutes of 2011,
required (among other things) the legislative body of a local
agency to post the agenda for a regular meeting at least 72
hours in advance on the local agency's Internet Web site, as
specified.
7)Committee Amendments. Given concerns raised by the
opposition, the Committee may wish to consider one of the
following approaches:
a) Remove provisions of the bill requiring open formatting
(on page 3, strike lines 12-19, and make conforming changes
in lines 20-29); or,
b) Add an effective date of January 1, 2020, and allow
smaller agencies to opt out of the bill's requirements if
they make a finding in an open meeting that the
requirements of the bill pose a fiscal burden for the
agency.
8)Arguments in Support. GrassrootsLab, sponsor of this measure,
writes, "Agendas in cities, counties and special districts are
frequently buried on agency websites and in formats that
preempt indexing and common search techniques. While many
jurisdictions offer subscription services to residents, the
aggregate practice of online agenda posting is uneven and
undermines resident access to the business of government.
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"The agencies subject to the proposed legislation provide
critical services to California residents, from public safety
to transportation, water management and many others. Their
decisions impact both the finances of their agency and the
quality of life of their constituents, who deserve ready
access to their scheduled meetings and matters at hand?
"Placing the agendas on an (agency's) homepage requires no
additional records be created and is a logical, intuitive
place for residents to find the document. Requiring machine
readability of the document is even more vital, as it will
ensure the agendas are indexed by search engines and readable
through a wide array of tools used in modern communication."
9)Arguments in Opposition. The California Special Districts
Association, in opposition, writes, "The requirements of AB
2257 micro-manage local agencies' website development and
strip their local control by dictating specifically where each
local agency posts its board and committee agendas. Many of
our districts have made significant investments in developing
the best design, layout, and functionality of their websites
to best serve the needs of their constituents?The primary role
of special districts is to provide services to the public. As
such, our websites are typically designed to ensure the ease
of access to those services.
"AB 2257 (also) includes a mandate that an agenda be posted in
a particular format that is retrievable, downloadable,
indexable, electronically searchable and machine readable.
Many local agencies are already moving to this type of
formatting as they periodically upgrade their systems.
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However, the mandate in AB 2257 will require all local
agencies?to upgrade their system software by January 1, 2017.
This is an unnecessary mandate that places undue burdens on
local agencies?This measure mandates significant changes to
the current process without identifying a current lack of
transparency by local agencies."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
GrassrootsLab [SPONSOR]
California Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce
California Association of Licensed Investigators, Inc.
California Independent Oil Marketers Association
California League of Food Processors
California Manufacturers and Technology Association
California Newspaper Publishers Association
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California Professional Firefighters
California Retailers Association
El Dorado Local Agency Formation Commission
Industrial Environmental Association
National Federation of Independent Business
Service Employees International Union, California State Council
Opposition
California Special Districts Association
California State Association of Counties
County of Sacramento
County of Santa Cruz
League of California Cities
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Rural County Representatives of California
Urban Counties of California
Analysis Prepared by:Angela Mapp / L. GOV. / (916) 319-3958