BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 194
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 194 (Campos)
As Amended August 20, 2014
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |46-11|(January 29, |SENATE: |26-8 |(August 26, |
| | |2014) | | |2014) |
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Original Committee Reference: L. GOV.
SUMMARY : Revises and expands the Ralph M. Brown Act's (Brown
Act) provisions that require local legislative bodies to allow
public comment and public criticism at regular and special
meetings.
The Senate amendments :
1)Delete language that would have allowed a district attorney or
interested party to seek "null and void" judicial
determinations for violations of Brown Act provisions that
require local legislative bodies to allow public comment and
public criticism at regular and special meetings.
2)Specify that every agenda for regular meetings must provide an
opportunity for the public to directly address the legislative
body on any item of interest to the public, before and during
the legislative body's consideration of the item, that is
within the subject matter jurisdiction of the legislative
body, as specified.
3)Specify that every notice for a special meeting must provide
an opportunity for the public to directly address the
legislative body concerning any item that has been described
in the notice for the meeting before and during consideration
of that item.
4)Specify that a local agency can include its procedure for
public comment on agenda items in the regulations the Brown
Act allows it to adopt to ensure that the intent of 2) and 3)
above, are carried out.
5)Revise and expand provisions that prohibit limitations on
public criticism of the policies, procedures, programs or
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services of a local agency by stating that, subject to the
reasonable regulations referenced in 4) above, the legislative
body of a local agency, or its presiding officer or staff,
acting in their official capacity on behalf of the legislative
body, shall not prohibit, limit, or otherwise prevent any of
the following:
a) Public criticism of the policies, procedures, programs,
or services of the agency, or of the acts or omissions of
the legislative body or its officers or employees acting in
their official capacity;
b) Comment by a member of the public during presentation of
an agenda item who has not provided notice of his or her
desire to comment prior to consideration of the agenda item
by the legislative body; or,
c) Comment by a member of the public based on his or her
viewpoint where the comment is within the subject matter
jurisdiction of the legislative body.
6)Provide that, if a legislative body limits the total amount of
time allocated for public testimony on a particular issue or
for each individual speaker, the questioning or interrupting
of the speaker by the legislative body, its officers or
employees, and the speaker's response to questioning shall not
reduce the total time allocated for public testimony on the
particular issue or allocated for an individual speaker.
7)Add language to avoid chaptering problems with AB 1330 (John
A. P�rez) of the current legislative session.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires that all meetings of a legislative body of a local
agency be open and public and that all persons be permitted to
attend, with specified exceptions, and prohibits local
legislative bodies from taking action by secret ballot.
2)Requires local legislative bodies to publicly post an agenda
prior to all regular meetings, as specified, and generally
prohibits action or discussion on items not appearing on the
posted agenda, with limited exceptions.
3)Allows local legislative bodies to convene special meetings,
subject to certain notice requirements, and prohibits any
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business not duly noticed from being considered in special
meetings, as specified.
4)Requires every agenda for regular meetings and every notice
for special meetings to provide an opportunity for members of
the public to directly address the legislative body on any
item of interest to the public, before or during the
legislative body's consideration of the item, that is within
the subject matter jurisdiction of the legislative body, as
specified.
5)Allows the legislative body of a local agency to adopt
reasonable regulations to ensure that the intent of 4) above,
is carried out, including, but not limited to, regulations
limiting the total amount of time allocated for public
testimony on particular issues and for each individual
speaker.
6)Prohibits the legislative body of a local agency from
prohibiting public criticism of the policies, procedures,
programs, or services of the agency, or of the acts or
omissions of the local legislative body, and provides that
nothing in this provision shall confer any privilege or
protection for expression beyond that otherwise provided by
law.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill:
1)Expanded the authorization for a district attorney or
interested party to seek a judicial determination that an
action taken by a local legislative body is null and void if
the legislative body violates current law requiring that every
agenda for a regular meeting or notice for a special meeting
provide an opportunity for members of the public to address
the legislative body on items being considered, as specified.
2)Expanded the authorization for a district attorney or
interested party to seek a judicial determination that an
action taken by a local legislative body is null and void if
the legislative body violates current law allowing a local
agency's legislative body to adopt reasonable regulations to
ensure that the intent of 1) above, is carried out, including,
but not limited to, regulations limiting the amount of time
allocated for public testimony on particular issues and for
each individual speaker.
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3)Expanded the authorization for a district attorney or
interested party to seek a judicial determination that an
action taken by a local legislative body is null and void if
the legislative body violates current law prohibiting a local
legislative body from prohibiting public criticism of the
policies, procedures, programs, or services of the agency, or
of the acts or omissions of the local legislative body, as
specified.
4)Specified that this bill shall not apply to any agenda item
except the agenda item or items acted upon in violation of the
Brown Act's public comment and public criticism protections,
with regard to an action that is alleged to have been taken in
violation of those protections.
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS :
1)Purpose of this bill. This bill makes a number of changes to
the provisions of the Brown Act that govern public comment and
public criticism during regular and special meetings of local
agency legislative bodies. It requires every agenda for
regular meetings to provide an opportunity for the public to
address the legislative body on any item of interest, before
and during the legislative body's consideration of the item.
It also requires similar opportunities to comment during
special meetings. This bill also prohibits the legislative
body of a local agency, or its presiding officer or staff,
from prohibiting, limiting, or otherwise preventing any of the
following:
a) Public criticism of the policies, procedures, programs,
or services of the agency, or of the acts or omissions of
the legislative body or its officers or employees acting in
their official capacity;
b) Comment by a member of the public during presentation of
an agenda item who has not provided notice of his or her
desire to comment prior to consideration of the agenda item
by the legislative body; or,
c) Comment by a member of the public based on his or her
viewpoint where the comment is within the subject matter
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jurisdiction of the legislative body.
If a legislative body limits the amount of time allocated for
public testimony on a particular issue or for each individual
speaker, it cannot "count" the time spent questioning or
interrupting the speaker and the speaker's response to
questions. This bill is sponsored by the author.
2)Author's statement. According to the author, "Local
governments are increasingly enacting policies or taking
actions that restrict the right of the public to comment
during meetings. The Brown Act provides local governments
with the right to enact reasonable restrictions on the time,
manner, and place for public comment. However, practices such
as not allowing the public to speak immediately prior to a
legislative body discussing an issue or cutting off comment
critical of the body violate the intent of the Brown Act."
3)Background. The Brown Act requires the meetings of local
governments' legislative bodies to be "open and public,"
thereby ensuring people's access to information so that they
may retain control over the public agencies that serve them.
Private discussions among a majority of a legislative body are
prohibited, unless expressly authorized under the Brown Act.
The Brown Act requires every agenda for a regular meeting of a
local agency's legislative body to provide an opportunity for
members of the public to directly address the legislative body
on any item of interest to the public, before or during the
body's consideration of the item. Similarly, every notice for
a special meeting must provide an opportunity for members of
the public to directly address the legislative body concerning
any item that has been described in the notice for the
meeting, before or during consideration of that item.
The Brown Act allows local agencies to adopt reasonable
regulations on public comments, including, but not limited to,
limits on the amount of time allocated for public testimony on
particular issues and for each individual speaker. The law
specifically prohibits a local agency from prohibiting public
criticism of the policies, procedures, programs, or services
of the agency, or of the acts or omissions of the legislative
body.
Some open government advocates are concerned that the current
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language of the Brown Act is not specific enough, and that the
rights of the public to comment during public meetings should
be clarified to avoid confusion and legal disputes over what
is permitted with regard to public comment periods.
4)Related legislation. AB 1330 amends the Brown Act, among
other things, to ensure that local agency regulations, which
may set time limits for public testimony, recognize the need
for additional time for interpreter services so that language
barriers do not result in reduced opportunities for public
testimony for some speakers. AB 1330 is pending in the
Senate.
5)Previous legislation.
a) SB 1003 (Yee), Chapter 732, Statutes of 2012, amended
the Brown Act to authorize a district attorney or any
interested person to take legal action to determine whether
or not an ongoing or past action (up to nine months) of a
local legislative body has violated the Brown Act. It also
created a process by which plaintiffs can secure an
enforceable commitment against future violations and seek
an award of court costs and attorneys' fees in certain
cases.
b) AB 194 (Dymally) of 2005. would have placed the burden
of proof on the legislative body of a local agency that its
actions were not in violation of the Brown Act and would
have permitted actions taken in substantial compliance with
the Brown Act to be declared null and void if they were
alleged to have been taken in violation of the Brown Act.
AB 194 died in the Assembly Local Government Committee.
1)Arguments in support. The California Newspaper Publishers
Association, in support, states, "A cornerstone of
California's open meeting law, the Ralph M. Brown Act, is the
right of members of the public to comment and inform their
representatives at local agencies on matters affecting their
communities. Recently, however, local agencies have
inappropriately curtailed this right and silenced individual's
voices when the speaker is critical of the agencies' policies
or employees. Part of the problem is that the language in the
provision of the Brown Act that governs the public's speech
rights is somewhat ambiguous. AB 194 clarifies the
ambiguities and, in doing so, continues to recognize the
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ability of local agencies to establish reasonable time, place,
and manner restrictions to ensure that they can continue to
operate with efficiency."
2)Arguments in opposition. The Urban Counties Caucus, in
opposition, writes, "(W)e are concerned that (this bill)
provides that a legislative body cannot prohibit comments by a
member of the public during presentation of an agenda item who
has not provided notice of his or her desire to comment prior
to consideration of the agenda item by the legislative body.
This provision is troubling to our counties, who often receive
hundreds of members of the public that attend meetings and
want to comment. Without notice or letting the body know of
their desire to speak, there is the concern that this could
result in the ability for the public to continue to ask to
speak with no limitations allowed."
Analysis Prepared by : Angela Mapp / L. GOV. / (916) 319-3958
FN: 0005196