BILL ANALYSIS
AB 224
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 224 (Portantino)
As Amended April 14, 2009
Majority vote
HIGHER EDUCATION 9-0 APPROPRIATIONS 16-0
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|Ayes:|Portantino, Conway, |Ayes:|De Leon, Nielsen, |
| |Block, Cook, Fong, | |Ammiano, Davis, Duvall, |
| |Galgiani, Huber, Ma, | |Fuentes, Hall, Harkey, |
| |Ruskin | |Jones, Miller, John A. |
| | | |Perez, Price, Skinner, |
| | | |Solorio, Audra |
| | | |Strickland, Torlakson |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Requires public higher education entities, as
specified, to make available on the Internet a live audio
broadcast of each of its meetings that is open to the public.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires the Board of Governors of the California Community
Colleges (CCC), the Board of Trustees of the California State
University (CSU), the California Postsecondary Education
Committee (CPEC), and the California Student Aid Commission
(CSAC) and its auxiliary to make available on the Internet a
live audio broadcast of each of its meetings that is open to
the public.
2)Requires that notice of these meetings and links to the live
audio broadcasts be easily accessible via each entity's
Internet Web site.
3)Requests the Regents of the University of California (UC)
comply with these provisions.
4)Provides that technical failures do not constitute a violation
of this section so long as the entity exercised due diligence
in making the live audio broadcast available.
FISCAL EFFECT : Minor absorbable costs to CSAC and CSU for
implementation. CSU
AB 224
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is currently working to provide live audio webcasts. UC, CCC,
CPEC, and EdFund already meet this bill's requirements.
COMMENTS : According to the author, California's open meeting
laws are intended to ensure that the public is informed about
and able to participate in its governmental process. However,
due to California's size and complexity, it is unrealistic to
expect the public to be able to travel to attend these open
meetings in person. Thus, alternate means of participation
should be made available to the public, especially since these
boards make decisions that directly affect the public, including
student fee increases, Cal Grant eligibility, and enrollment
restrictions.
Analysis Prepared by : Sandra Fried / HIGHER ED. / (916)
319-3960
FN: 0000309