BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2257
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
2257 (Maienschein)
As Amended May 11, 2016
Majority vote
------------------------------------------------------------------
|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Local |8-0 |Eggman, Waldron, | |
|Government | |Alejo, Chiu, Cooley, | |
| | |Beth Gaines, Gordon, | |
| | |Linder | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Appropriations |20-0 |Gonzalez, Bigelow, | |
| | |Bloom, Bonilla, | |
| | |Bonta, Calderon, | |
| | |Patterson, Daly, | |
| | |Eggman, Gallagher, | |
| | |Eduardo Garcia, Roger | |
| | |Hernández, Holden, | |
| | |Jones, Obernolte, | |
| | |Quirk, Santiago, | |
| | |Wagner, Weber, Wood | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
------------------------------------------------------------------
AB 2257
Page 2
SUMMARY: Imposes additional requirements for online postings of
agendas for the public meetings of local agency legislative
bodies. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires, on and after January 1, 2019, the following
provisions to apply if a local agency has an Internet Web site
(website):
a) An online posting of an agenda for the legislative body
of a local agency shall be posted on the local agency's
primary website homepage accessible through a prominent,
direct link to the current agenda. The direct link to the
agenda shall not be in a contextual menu; however, a link
in addition to the direct link to the agenda may be
accessible through a contextual menu.
b) An online posting of an agenda of any local agency,
including, but not limited to, an agenda posted in an
integrated agenda management platform, shall be posted in
an open format that meets all of the following
requirements:
i) Retrievable, downloadable, indexable, and
electronically searchable by commonly used Internet
search applications;
ii) Platform independent and machine readable; and,
iii) Available to the public free of charge and without
any restriction that would impede the reuse or
redistribution of the agenda.
AB 2257
Page 3
c) A city, county, city and county, or special district
that has an integrated agenda management platform shall not
be required to comply with a) above, if all of the
following are met:
i) A direct link to the integrated agenda management
platform is posted on the local agency's primary website
homepage. The direct link to the integrated agenda
management platform shall not be in a contextual menu.
When a person clicks on the direct link to the integrated
agenda management platform, the direct link shall take
the person directly to a website with the agendas of the
local agency;
ii) The integrated agenda management platform contains
all of the agendas of the local agency;
iii) The current agenda of the legislative body of the
local agency is the first agenda available at the top of
the integrated agenda management platform; and,
iv) All agendas posted in the integrated agenda
management platform comply with the open format
requirements of this bill as outlined in b) above.
2)Provides the following definitions:
a) "Integrated agenda management platform" means a website
of a local agency dedicated to providing the entirety of
the local agency's agenda information to the public.
AB 2257
Page 4
b) "Legislative body" means the governing body of a local
agency or any other local body created by state or federal
statute.
3)Finds and declares that Section 1 of the bill furthers, within
the meaning of paragraph 7) of subdivision b) of California
Constitution Article I Section 3, 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 California
Constitution Article I Section 3, that 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.
4)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 California Constitution Article I Section
3.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
1)Negligible state costs.
2)There are no reimbursable local mandate costs because any
costs incurred by local agencies would fall under Proposition
42.
AB 2257
Page 5
COMMENTS:
1)Bill Summary. This bill adds several requirements to the
online posting of agendas for local agency meetings.
Beginning January 1, 2019, the following provisions apply if a
local agency has a website:
a) An online posting of an agenda shall be posted on the
local agency's primary website homepage accessible through
a prominent, direct link to the current agenda, as
specified.
b) An online posting of an agenda must be posted in an open
format that meets all of the following requirements:
i) Retrievable, downloadable, indexable, and
electronically searchable by commonly used Internet
search applications;
ii) Platform independent and machine readable; and,
iii) Available to the public free of charge and without
any restriction that would impede the reuse or
redistribution of the agenda.
This bill provides an exemption from the above requirements
for a city, county, or special district that has an integrated
agenda management platform, if all of the following are met:
AB 2257
Page 6
c) A direct link to the integrated agenda management
platform is posted on the local agency's primary website
site homepage, as specified. When a person clicks on the
direct link to the integrated agenda management platform,
the direct link shall take the person directly to a website
with the agendas of the local agency;
d) The integrated agenda management platform contains all
of the agendas of the local agency;
e) The current agenda of the legislative body of the local
agency is the first agenda available at the top of the
integrated agenda management platform; and,
f) All agendas posted in the integrated agenda management
platform comply with the open format requirements of this
bill.
This bill defines "integrated agenda management platform" to
mean a website of a local agency dedicated to providing the
entirety of the local agency's agenda information to the
public. This bill is sponsored by GrassrootsLab.
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.
AB 2257
Page 7
"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."
3)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 the meetings of local public bodies
or the writings of local public officials and local agencies.
Pursuant to paragraph 7) of subdivision b) of California
Constitution Article I Section 3, 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
AB 2257
Page 8
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 California Constitution
Article I Section 3."
4)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.
?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."
5)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,
AB 2257
Page 9
indexable, electronically searchable and machine readable.
?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."
Analysis Prepared by:
Angela Mapp / L. GOV. / (916) 319-3958 FN:
0003023