A slate of bills amending the Brown Act open meetings law and supported by CSDA were among the hundreds of bills signed by Governor Gavin Newsom in the final days and hours prior to the September 30 deadline. One vetoed bill included yet another website mandate that was opposed by CSDA. Of the 101 bills opposed by CSDA during the 2021-2022 State Legislative Session, only 23 became law; 78 bills were killed or amended to remove concerns, 9 of which were vetoed by the Governor. Of the 123 bills supported by CSDA, 69 were signed into law.
Costly Website Mandate Vetoed
On September 23, 2022, Governor Newsom vetoed Assembly Bill 1711 (Seyarto). AB 1711 would have required public agencies to post data breach notifications on their homepages when provided by vendors and other third parties operating systems of records containing personal information owned by the public agencies. The purpose of the bill was to decrease confusion by the persons whose data may have been exposed resulting from receiving data breach notifications directly from public agency vendors with which they have no direct relationship.
CSDA co-led a broad coalition of local government and education associations opposing the bill unless it was amended to remove the public agency website posting requirement, and instead require public agency vendors to simply identify the name of the public agency they were working for when providing the data breach notifications to potentially impacted persons. AB 1711 would have increased costs on public agencies while also creating unintended risks through more widely publicizing potential information technology systems vulnerabilities.
The Governor's veto message may be viewed here.
Brown Act Measures Chaptered
Governor Newsom signed three bills supported by CSDA related to the Brown Act, chief among them was Assembly Bill 2449 (Rubio), which was sponsored by Three Valleys Municipal Water District and will provide for an alternative means of teleconference participation in meetings of local governing bodies.
AB 2449 establishes a new avenue for a minority of a local agency's board to meet remotely without noticing or providing public access to their remote meeting location under modified Brown Act requirements provided that the agency abides by the strict substantive and procedural requirements within the legislation and a quorum of the board meets in-person. Local agencies may avail themselves of the alternative agenda posting and teleconference requirements, potentially making it easier for local agency board members to participate in a meeting remotely under certain circumstances that would've otherwise precluded that participation.
The freedoms granted by AB 2449 may be familiar to those accustomed to holding meetings under the framework established by Assembly Bill 361 (R. Rivas, 2021). AB 361 remains in effect through 2023 and can still be used by local agencies during any state-declared emergency. If signed into law, the provisions of AB 2449 would provide an entirely separate and distinct method of conducting remote meetings from that provided by AB 361. Therefore, local agencies would have the option to conduct remote meetings under the provisions of AB 2449, AB 361, or traditional Brown Act teleconference requirements. Local agencies may also choose to conduct public meetings entirely in-person under the Brown Act.
In addition to AB 2449, Governor Newsom signed Senate Bill 1100 (Cortese) and Assembly Bill 2647 (Levine), both of which were also supported by CSDA.
Senate Bill 1100 (Cortese) expressly provides that a member of the public can be removed from a meeting for disruptive behavior, as defined, and provides for the process by which a local agency may effect the removal of that individual.
Assembly Bill 2647 (Levine) came out of a court case (Sierra Watch v. Placer County), this bill seeks to clarify that the online posting of agenda materials fulfills the Brown Act requirement that they be made “publicly available.” Local agencies relying on the bill’s provisions would still be obliged to make physical copies of the materials available at an agency location designated for that purpose, and are also subject to observing other substantive and procedural requirements.
CSDA has previously written about the these measures in an article accessible here. CSDA's New Laws Series, overviewing the most significant new laws affecting special districts in each week’s CSDA eNews starting in November, will also feature these important amendments to the Brown Act.
CSDA Year-End Legislative Report Coming Soon
In the midst of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the California State Legislature introduced and CSDA reviewed 5,129 bills during the 2021-2022 Legislative Session; CSDA’s Legislative Committee adopted positions on 1,498 bills. Later in October, CSDA will release a complete 2022 Year-End Legislative Report. In the meantime, CSDA members may consult CSDA’s Bill Tracking webpage to search for the outcomes of all CSDA-tracked legislation.
In addition to those bills mentioned in the article above, below are some of the other significant measures supported by CSDA that were recently signed into law:
Assembly Bill 662 (Rodriguez) - State Fire Marshal and Emergency Medical Services Authority: peer-to-peer suicide prevention
Assembly Bill 1681 (Daly) - Insurance: fraud prevention and detection
Assembly Bill 1776 (Gallagher) - Resource conservation districts: California Prompt Payment Act
Assembly Bill 1817 (Ting) - Product safety: textile articles: perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)
Assembly Bill 1845 (Calderon) - Metropolitan Water District of Southern California: alternative project delivery methods
Assembly Bill 2142 (Gabriel) - Income taxes: exclusion: turf replacement water conservation program
Assembly Bill 2771 (Friedman) – Cosmetic products: safety
Assembly Bill 2917 (Fong) - Disability access: internet websites, parking lots, and exterior paths of travel.
Senate Bill 450 (Hertzberg) - Fire protection: Special District Fire Response Fund: Office of Emergency Services
Senate Bill 656 (Eggman) - Stockton-East Water District: water rates
Senate Bill 991 (Newman) - Public contracts: progressive design-build: local agencies
Senate Bill 1226 (Durazo) - Joint powers agreements: zero-emission transportation systems or facilities
Senate Bill 1405 (Ochoa Bogh) - Community service districts: Lake Arrowhead Community Service District: covenants, conditions, and restrictions: enforcement
Senate Bill 1476 (Bradford) - Water replenishment districts: contracts
Below are some of the significant bills signed into law despite CSDA’s opposition, although significant amendments were achieved prior to their passage:
Senate Bill 931 (Leyva) – Deterring union membership: violations
Senate Bill 1127 (Atkins) – Workers’ compensation: liability presumptions
Senate Bill 1157 (Hertzberg) – Urban water use objectives
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