CSDA is sponsoring legislation, Assembly Bill 361 (Rivas), which would allow local agencies to continue to provide critical public services to their communities during declared emergencies.
If passed by the Legislature, Assembly Bill 361 (Rivas), would allow the following:
- While maintaining transparency and public access, local agencies would be able to meet remotely during a declared state of emergency or a declared local emergency
- While agencies would still be required to post agendas and meeting information, agencies would not be required to post meeting notices and/or agendas in physical locations when remotely meeting during an emergency
- While the public must continue to have access to the remote meeting and provided the ability to make public comment, agencies would not be required to make all remote meeting sites accessible to the public, nor include the remote location details in the meeting notice or agenda during a declared state of emergency or a declared local emergency
- Additionally, agency board members would not be required to be at remote sites within the territorial bounds of the agency during a declared state of emergency or a declared local emergency
CSDA is requesting that its members send in letters of support for this measure. Visit CSDA’s Take Action page to obtain a fact sheet with more background on the bill and to download a sample letter of support your agency can use as a template. You can also take advantage of our new Automated Form Letter tool (also available on the Take Action page), which seeks to streamline the letter submission process for your agency.
If you or your agency has any questions, please feel free to contact the CSDA staffer leading this effort, Legislative Analyst Marcus Detwiler, at marcusd@csda.net.
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