BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNANCE AND FINANCE
Senator Robert M. Hertzberg, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
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|Bill No: |AB 2257 |Hearing |6/29/16 |
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|Author: |Maienschein |Tax Levy: |No |
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|Version: |6/22/16 |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant|Favorini-Csorba |
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Local agency meetings: agenda: online posting
Requires local agencies to post a link to the current meeting
agenda prominently on their homepage.
Background
The Brown Act. The Ralph M. Brown Act (Brown Act), first
enacted by the Legislature in 1953, is the set of state laws
which guarantees the public's right to attend and participate in
local legislative bodies' meetings. The Brown Act establishes
procedures to ensure public access to information maintained by
local agencies and that the decisions made by public agencies
are done in an open and transparent fashion to retain public
control over those agencies. Local agencies subject to the
Brown Act include cities, charter cities, counties, school
districts, special districts, and other political subdivisions
of the state.
The Brown Act establishes the presumption that business of local
agencies' legislative bodies must be conducted in open and
public meetings. No action may be taken by secret ballot, and
the legislative body must publicly report the action taken and
the votes cast. Among other things, 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 and
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on the local agency's website, if it has one (AB 1344, Feuer,
2011).
Open Data. In recent years, computer technology has advanced to
allow electronic documents to be searched and indexed
electronically. This searchability is enhanced by posting
documents and other data in "open format," meaning one that is
platform independent, machine readable, and made available to
the public without restrictions that would impede the reuse of
that information. The Legislature began considering open data
bills in 2015, enacting statutes that require local agencies to
create an inventory of their enterprise systems and make it
available to the public (SB 272, Hertzberg, 2015) and it
establishing standards for local agency websites that bill
themselves as hosting "open data" (AB 169, Maienschein, 2015).
These standards required data to 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.
Available to the public free of charge and without any
restriction that would impede the reuse or redistribution
of the public record.
Able to retain the data definitions and structure
present when the data was compiled, if applicable.
Advocates for government transparency and open data want
legislators to make it easier for search engines, other modern
communications tools, and the public to find and access agendas.
Proposed Law
Assembly Bill 2257 requires, on and after January 1, 2019, a
local agency that has an internet website to post a prominent,
direct link to the agenda for the most current meeting of its
governing body on the local agency's primary homepage. AB 2257
prohibits the link from being in a contextual menu, but allows
an additional link to the agenda in a contextual menu. A local
agency that uses an integrated agenda management platform does
not have to meet these requirements if it meets all of the
following conditions:
A direct link to the platform is posted on the local
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agency's primary homepage and the link is not in a
contextual menu;
All of the local agency's agendas are contained in the
platform;
The current agenda of the legislative body of the local
agency is the first agenda available at the top of the
platform webpage; and
All of the agendas comply with specified requirements
for formatting.
AB 2257 also specifies requirements for the format of agendas,
similar to the requirements for open data established in AB 169.
Specifically, agendas must be posted in an open format that is:
Retrievable, downloadable, indexable, and 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 agenda.
State Revenue Impact
No estimate.
Comments
1. Purpose of the bill . The Legislature initially enacted the
Brown Act in 1953 to ensure open government and transparency in
local decision-making. Over the years, it has been amended to
adapt to changing circumstances and new technologies. Today,
technology has changed what the reasonable expectations are for
access to public meeting documents such as agendas, and new
tools are available to improve transparency. AB 2257 is the
next logical step in ensuring the public's access to meetings.
It addresses two key obstacles that hamper access to local
agency agendas. First, it makes agendas much easier to find on
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local agency websites by requiring a direct link on the
homepage. Just as importantly, AB 2257 requires local
governments to post their agendas in an open format that search
engines like Google and other tools can read and catalogue.
Communication technologies have advanced rapidly; it's time our
local governments caught up.
2. Homepage, home rule . Local agencies already face mandates
from the state to ensure that their agendas are publicly posted
and that their meetings are open and accessible. These
requirements can be onerous for small local agencies that don't
have the resources to continually update a website.
Furthermore, many local governments that have that capacity have
designed their website to meet the expressed needs of their
constituents, who may prize having ready access to information
about permitting or jobs over a link to the most recent agenda.
While well intentioned, AB 2257 imposes a potentially costly
one-size-fits-all requirement on local governments, to the
detriment of the public. Other bills similarly micromanage local
agency websites; AB 779, which the Committee will also consider
on June 29th, requires a link on the homepage to local agency
compensation. These bills set a concerning precedent for
micromanaging local agency websites.
3. Mandate . The California Constitution generally requires the
state to reimburse local agencies for their costs when the state
imposes new programs or additional duties on them. In 2014,
California voters approved Proposition 42, which amended the
California Constitution to eliminate the state's responsibility
to pay local governments for compliance with the Brown Act and
its amendments. According to the Legislative Counsel's Office,
AB 2257 creates a new state-mandated local program. But this
bill disclaims the state's responsibility for reimbursing local
agencies by including findings and declarations that the bill
amends the Brown Act and furthers its purposes.
Assembly Actions
Assembly Local Government Committee: 8-0
Assembly Appropriations Committee: 20-0
Assembly Floor: 77-0
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Support and
Opposition (6/23/16)
Support : Grassroots Lab (sponsor); AFSCME; California Asian
Pacific Chamber of Commerce; California Association of Licensed
Investigators; California Business Roundtable; California
Independent Oil Marketers Association; California League of Food
Processors; California Manufacturers and Technology Association;
California Newspaper Publishers Association; California
Professional Firefighters; California Retailers Association;
Californians Aware; Data Coalition; El Dorado Local Agency
Formation Commission; Industrial Environmental Association;
Innovate Your State; National Federation of Independent
Business; SEIU California; Sunlight Foundation.
Opposition : California Special Districts Association.
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