BILL ANALYSIS Ó SB 1190 Page 1 Date of Hearing: August 3, 2016 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Lorena Gonzalez, Chair SB 1190 (Jackson) - As Amended June 8, 2016 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Policy |Natural Resources |Vote:|6 - 3 | |Committee: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No SUMMARY: This bill prohibits a Coastal Commissioner or an interested person from intentionally conducting any ex parte and other communication, as specified, and prohibits Commissioners from unduly influencing Commission staff reports. Specifically, this bill: 1)Prohibits a commissioner or an interested party from intentionally conducting either an ex parte communication or an oral or written communication, regarding a pending enforcement investigation that does not occur in a public hearing, workshop, or other official proceeding, or on the SB 1190 Page 2 official record of the proceeding. 2)Requires a Commissioner to fully disclose and make public ex parte and other prohibited communications by providing a full report to the Executive Director within seven days after the communication, or to the Commission in writing to be included in the record of the proceeding if the communication occurred less than seven days prior to the hearing. 3)Prohibits a Commissioner from voting or participating in a Commission matter if he or she has conducted an ex parte or other prohibited communication. 4)Prohibits a commissioner from using his or her official position to place undue influence on Commission staff to alter their staff report. Disqualifies a commissioner from holding any position at the Commission if they willfully attempt to place undue influence on staff. FISCAL EFFECT: The fiscal impact of this bill is unknown. According to the Coastal Commission, this bill does not increase costs, and may provide savings. However, there may be potential unknown cost pressures, possibly in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, to hire staff advisors to assist the six public Commissioners by attending site visits and gathering information from interested parties. COMMENTS: SB 1190 Page 3 1)Purpose. According to the author, this bill will help restore the public's trust in the Commission, ensure decisions are made more openly and transparently, and remove the possibility of back-room decision making or the perception that it is happening. The author further states that this bill will level the playing field between big-moneyed interests and those without such financial resources. 2)The Coastal Commission. The California Coastal Commission has 12 voting members and three non-voting members. Six of the voting members are "public members," and six are local elected officials who come from specific coastal districts. All voting members are appointed either by the Governor, Senate Rules Committee, or the Speaker of the Assembly; each appoints four commissioners, two public members and two elected officials. Each Commissioner may appoint an alternate to serve in his or her absence. The Secretaries of the Resources Agency, the Business and Transportation Agency, and the Chair of the State Lands Commission serve as non-voting members and may appoint a designee to serve in their place. The Commission voted 6-5 this year to support banning ex parte communication. 3)Existing Ex Parte Communication Laws. The California Coastal Act of 1976 prohibits, with specified exceptions, ex parte communications between a member of the Commission and an interested person about a matter within the jurisdiction of the Commission. Such communications, by definition, do not occur in a public hearing or other official proceeding or on the record. When proper disclosure of such communications is made, ex parte communications are lawful. Existing law also prohibits commissioners or alternates from trying to influence a SB 1190 Page 4 commission decision in circumstances in which an ex parte communication has not been reported. A civil fine of up to $7,500 may be imposed, plus attorney's fees, and the Commission action may be revoked. The Commission's jurisdiction for matters that are subject to the prohibition on ex parte communications and the disclosure requirements include any permit action, federal consistency review, appeal, local coastal program, port master plan, public works plan, long-range development plan, categorical or other exclusions from coastal development permit requirements, or any other quasi-judicial matter requiring commission action, for which an application has been submitted to the commission. Commissioners must disclose to the public an ex parte communication on the prescribed form within 7 days of the communication. If the communication occurs within 7 days of the next Commission meeting, the disclosure must be made on the record of the proceeding in that hearing. According to the Natural Resources Agency, the California Attorney General has opined that Commissioners may not engage in ex parte communications in the context of enforcement proceedings because enforcement proceedings are not expressly called out in the law. This advice letter does not have the effect of law. SB 1190 Page 5 4)Related Legislation. AB 2002 (Stone, 2016) provides that communicating with the Coastal Commission in order to influence specified actions can result in a person being considered a "lobbyist" under the Political Reform Act (PRA) and prohibits an ex parte communication with a member of the Commission regarding a matter during the 24 hours before that matter will be discussed at a Commission hearing. This bill is pending in Senate Appropriations. Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Galehouse / APPR. / (916) 319-2081