BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1436|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 1436
Author: Bates (R)
Amended: 4/6/16
Vote: 21
SENATE GOVERNANCE & FIN. COMMITTEE: 6-0, 4/13/16
AYES: Hertzberg, Beall, Hernandez, Lara, Moorlach, Pavley
NO VOTE RECORDED: Nguyen
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
SUBJECT: Local agency meetings: local agency executive
compensation: oral report of final action
recommendation
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill requires the legislative body of a local
agency to orally report a recommendation for final action on the
compensation of a local agency executive during an open meeting.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Governs local governments' relations with their employees, and
school districts and community college districts' employee
relations, including collective bargaining and representation
procedures.
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2)Exempts, generally, executive employees-county administrators,
city managers, special district managers, school
superintendents, community college presidents-who are employed
by, and report directly to, local elected governing boards
from collective bargaining and representation procedures.
3)Requires public records to be open to inspection during office
hours and gives every person a right to inspect public
records, with specific exceptions.
4)Guarantees the public's right to attend and participate in
local legislative bodies' meetings and 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.
5)Allows the legislative body of a local agency to meet, debate,
and sometimes act in a closed session in several specified
cases-including for the agency's designated representative to
discuss the compensation-including salaries, salary schedules,
or compensation paid in the form of fringe benefits-of its
represented and unrepresented employees.
6)Requires local officials to:
a) Place a closed meeting item on an agenda and cite their
statutory authority to meet behind closed doors.
b) Report on any action taken in closed session and provide
the vote of every elected member present.
c) Take final action on the compensation of unrepresented
employees in an open session.
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This bill:
1)Requires the legislative body of a local agency, prior to
taking final action on the compensation of a local agency
executive, to orally report a summary of the recommendation
for final action during the open meeting in which the final
action is to be taken.
2)States that the bill's provisions shall not affect the
public's right under the Public Records Act to inspect or copy
records created or received in the process of developing the
recommendation.
Background
In 2011, the Legislature amended the Brown Act to address
mismanagement on the part of officials in the City of Bell. AB
1344 (Feuer, Chapter 692, Statutes of 2011) prohibited local
agencies from calling a special meeting (outside of regularly
scheduled meetings of the agency's legislative body) regarding
the compensation of a local agency executive. AB 1344 defined
local agency executive to include any employee not governed by
the collective bargaining and representation procedures
established in the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act and the Education
Code, and that meet any of the following criteria:
The person is the chief executive officer, a deputy chief
executive officer, or an assistant chief executive officer of
the local agency.
The person is the head of a department of a local agency.
The local agency employs the person on a contract.
Some legislators want to further increase the transparency of
decisions that local agencies make about the compensation of
their executives.
Comments
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Purpose of the bill. Transparency in local government
decisionmaking, particularly when it comes to executive
compensation, is a valuable safeguard against improper behavior
and helps ensure that taxpayer and ratepayer dollars are
effectively spent. Local agency executives, such as agency CEOs
and city managers, are offered fringe benefits including health
care coverage and pensions in amounts that can have a
significant long-term impact on the budget and that deserve
particular scrutiny by the public. SB 1436 encourages the
active discussion of the compensation of local agency executives
in an open session, rather than simply placing an item on a
consent calendar where it will receive little attention. SB
1436 is a simple change that furthers the intent of the Brown
Act, makes it easier for the public to identify improper levels
of compensation, and builds trust in government.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: Yes
SUPPORT: (Verified4/25/16)
California Newspaper Publishers Association
Californians Aware
OPPOSITION: (Verified4/25/16)
None received
Prepared by:Anton Favorini-Csorba / GOV. & F. / (916) 651-4119
4/27/16 15:57:32
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