BILL ANALYSIS �
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2058
Author: Wilk (R), et al.
Amended: 6/19/14 in Senate
Vote: 27 - Urgency
SENATE GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION COMMITTEE : 8-0, 6/10/14
AYES: Correa, Cannella, De Le�n, Galgiani, Hernandez, Padilla,
Torres, Vidak
NO VOTE RECORDED: Berryhill, Lieu, Vacancy
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 6-0, 6/30/14
AYES: De Le�n, Walters, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
NO VOTE RECORDED: Gaines
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 77-0, 5/27/14 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Open meetings
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill modifies the definition of state body to
exclude an advisory body with less than three individuals,
except for certain standing committees, as specified.
ANALYSIS : The Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act covers all state
boards and commissions and generally requires these bodies to
publicly notice their meetings, prepare agendas, accept public
testimony and conduct their meetings in public unless
specifically authorized by the Act to meet in closed session.
The Ralph M. Brown Act governs meetings of legislative bodies of
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local agencies. In general, both 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.
The Bagley-Keene Act defines "state body" to mean each of the
following:
1. Every state board, or commission, or similar multimember
body of the state that is created by statute or required by
law to conduct official meetings and every commission created
by executive order.
2. A board, commission, committee, or similar multimember body
that exercises any authority of a state body delegated to it
by that state body.
3. An advisory board, advisory commission, advisory committee,
advisory subcommittee, or similar multimember advisory body
of a state body, if created by formal action of the state
body or of any member of the state body. Advisory bodies
created to consist of fewer than three individuals are not a
state body, except that standing committees of a state body,
irrespective of their composition, which have a continuing
subject matter jurisdiction, or a meeting schedule fixed by
resolution, policies, bylaws, or formal action of a state
body are state bodies for the purposes of this chapter.
4. A board, commission, committee, or similar multimember body
on which a member of a body that is a state body serves in
his/her official capacity as a representative of that state
body and that is supported, in whole or in part, by funds
provided by the state body, whether the multimember body is
organized and operated by the state body or by a private
corporation.
This bill modifies the definition of "state body" to exclude an
advisory body with less than three individuals, except that a
standing committee of a state body, regardless of its
composition, which has a continuing subject matter jurisdiction
or a meeting schedule fixed by resolution, policies, bylaws, or
formal action of a state body is a state body for purposes of
the Bagley-Keene Act Open Meeting Act.
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Background
When the Legislature enacted the Bagley-Keene Act, it
essentially said that when a state body sits down to develop its
consensus, there needs to be a seat at the table reserved for
the public. By reserving this place for the public, the
Legislature has provided the public with the ability to monitor
and participate in the decision-making process. If the body
were permitted to meet in secret, the public's role in the
decision-making process would be negated. Therefore, absent a
specific reason to keep the public out of the meeting, the
public should be allowed to monitor and participate in the
decision-making process.
Comments
According to the author's office, the current definition of
"state body" in the Bagley-Keene Act contains an ambiguity with
respect to whether a "standing committee" composed of fewer than
three members needs to comply with the public notice and open
meeting requirements of the Act. The author's office argues
that certain state bodies (e.g., High Speed Rail Authority,
First 5 California, and the Veterinary Medical Board) have
allowed standing committees to hold closed door meetings as long
as they contain two rather than three members and do not vote to
take action on items. The author's office believes such
entities are intentionally limiting membership on standing
committees to no more than two members for the explicit purpose
of avoiding open meeting requirements.
The author's office states that prior to 1993, the Brown Act
contained language very similar to the current language in the
Bagley-Keene Act relative to standing committees. However, in
the 1990s when a local government entity attempted to claim a
loophole existed for two-member standing committees, the
Legislature promptly removed any ambiguity on the matter from
the Brown Act (SB 1140, Calderon, Chapter 1138, Statutes of
1993). A conforming change was not made, however, to the
Bagley-Keene Act, as no change was thought necessary.
The author's office emphasizes that the ambiguity left in the
Bagley-Keene Act is allowing state bodies to deliberate and
direct staff behind closed doors. These state agencies are
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allowing standing committees to interpret the language of the
Bagley-Keene Act in a manner that is contrary to the intent of
the Legislature and the public.
The author's office states that this bill is simply intended to
clarify that all standing committees, including advisory
committees, are subject to the transparency of open meeting
regulations regardless of committee size or membership.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, in general,
this bill imposes 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 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:
Physician Assistant Board: $13,614 (Physician Assistant
Fund)
Dental Board: $20,421 (State Dentistry Fund)
Dental Hygiene Committee: $15,833 (State Dental Hygiene
Fund)
Naturopathic Medicine Committee: $11,214 (Naturopathic
Doctor's Fund)
Board of Registered Nursing: $27,628 (Board of Registered
Nursing Fund)
Board of Accountancy: $89,556 (Accountancy Fund)
Board of Veterinary Medicine: $6,807 (Veterinary Medical
Board Contingency Fund)
Board of Pharmacy: $9,345 (Pharmacy Board Contingency Fund)
State Athletic Commission: $124,795 (Athletic Commission
Fund)
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)
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SUPPORT : (Verified 7/1/14)
Board of Behavioral Sciences
OPPOSITION : (Verified 7/1/14)
California Board of Accountancy
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The Board of Behavioral Sciences
writes, "This bill would make an advisory body consisting of
less than three members subject to the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting
Act if the body is a standing committee with a continuing
subject matter jurisdiction, or has a meeting schedule fixed by
formal action of a state body."
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The California Board of Accountancy
(CBA) states that this bill appears to exclude even a single
member from acting in an advisory body capacity without public
notice. According to the CBA, this bill prevents the CBA and
its various committees from asking fewer than three members to
draft a letter, provide expert analysis, or work on legal
language without giving public notice. Under existing law, the
advisory activities of the CBA's one or two-member committees
are vetted and voted upon in a publically noticed meeting of the
whole committee board.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 77-0, 5/27/14
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian
Calderon, Campos, Chau, Ch�vez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley,
Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox,
Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon,
Gorell, Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hern�ndez,
Holden, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal,
Maienschein, Mansoor, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi,
Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Perea, John A. P�rez, V.
Manuel P�rez, Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas,
Skinner, Stone, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski,
Wilk, Williams, Yamada, Atkins
NO VOTE RECORDED: Patterson, Quirk-Silva, Vacancy
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MW:k 7/1/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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