BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair
AB 2058 (Wilk) - Open meetings.
Amended: June 19, 2014 Policy Vote: GO 8-0
Urgency: Yes Mandate: No
Hearing Date: June 23, 2014
Consultant: Mark McKenzie
This bill does not meet the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
Bill Summary: AB 2058, an urgency measure, would require all
standing committees of a state body, irrespective of
composition, that has a continuing subject matter jurisdiction
or fixed meeting schedule to comply with the provisions of the
Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act.
Fiscal Impact:
In general, this bill would impose minor to moderate costs
on affected state entities. Some state entities may simply
decide to eliminate certain advisory bodies and specified
standing committees rather than spend limited resources for
compliance with open meeting requirements.
The following regulatory entities within the Department of
Consumer Affairs (DCA) that use advisory committees of less
than three members reported costs to comply with open
meeting requirements, including costs for board member and
staff travel, communications, and providing public meeting
space:
o Physician Assistant Board: $13,614 (Physician
Assistant Fund)
o Dental Board: $20,421 (State Dentistry Fund)
o Dental Hygiene Committee: $15,833 (State Dental
Hygiene Fund)
o Naturopathic Medicine Committee: $11,214
(Naturopathic Doctor's Fund)
o Board of Registered Nursing: $27,628 (Board of
Registered Nursing Fund)
o Board of Accountancy: $89,556 (Accountancy Fund)
o Board of Veterinary Medicine: $6,807 (Veterinary
Medical Board Contingency Fund)
AB 2058 (Wilk)
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o Board of Pharmacy: $9,345 (Pharmacy Board
Contingency Fund)
o State Athletic Commission: $124,795 (Athletic
Commission Fund)
o Osteopathic Medical Board: projected costs of
$81,864, based on historical use of advisory bodies, if
advisory bodies are formed in the future. (Osteopathic
Medical Board Contingency Fund)
Background: Existing law defines an advisory board, commission,
committee, and subcommittee of a state body that is comprised of
three or more persons and created by a formal action of the body
as a "state body" for purposes of the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting
Act. This generally requires state agencies, boards, and
commissions to publicly notice meetings, prepare formal agendas,
accept public testimony, and conduct meetings in public, unless
specifically authorized to meet in closed session.
Existing law, the Ralph M. Brown Act, governs meetings of
legislative bodies of local agencies. In general, the Brown and
Bagley-Keene Acts are virtually identical. While both acts
contain specific exceptions from the open meeting requirements
where government has demonstrated a need for confidentiality,
such exceptions have been narrowly construed by the courts.
Until 1993, both Acts contained very similar definitions for the
public bodies that are subject to the open meeting requirements.
However, the definition of "state body" in the Bagley-Keene Act
currently exempts advisory bodies created by a formal action of
the board that are comprised of fewer than three individuals
from the definition of "state body" which authorizes them to
meet without public notice.
Proposed Law: AB 2058 would specify that a standing committee of
a state body, irrespective of its composition, that has a
continuing subject matter jurisdiction or fixed meeting schedule
is a state body for purposes of the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting
Act.
Staff Comments: This bill is intended to increase transparency
and public participation and oversight of state entities that
form certain advisory or policy bodies of fewer than three
persons that are not subject to open meeting requirements. It
should be noted that these advisory bodies are generally formed
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to investigate specific issues and advise a full board at public
meetings, and cannot take official actions independently.
The bill would impose increased duties on state entities who
currently have advisory bodies consisting of fewer than three
members related to compliance with the open meeting requirements
of the Bagley-Keene Act, including publicly noticing all
meetings, preparing formal agendas, accepting public testimony,
conducting meetings in public, and recording proceedings. Costs
to individual state entities are likely to be relatively minor,
but cumulatively could reach the hundreds of thousands annually.
It is likely that some state entities would change practices
related to advisory bodies and committees, which may shift costs
to state staff to conduct the work of those bodies.