Senate Passes Online Transparency Measure for Local Meetings

The Legislature passed transparency legislation on Monday that would require local government entities to post all meeting agendas online via a prominent, direct link no later than 2019. The bill requires meeting agendas to be posted at a consistent, visible location on the homepage of a local agency's Internet website or provide a direct link to an agenda portal if they have one.

If signed by the governor, AB 2257 from Assemblymember Brian Maienschein, R-San Diego, would apply to legislative bodies of cities, counties, special districts and school districts. The bill was ordered back to the Assembly once more.

The legislation's proponent says meeting agendas often are buried deep on local agencies' websites and are difficult to find.

The bill also would stipulate that the meeting agendas be made available in an open, machine-readable format that's "platform independent," searchable and downloadable.

AB 2257 passed the State Senate by a 38-to-0 vote.

Techwire wrote about AB 2257 in more detail last month.

Other transparency legislation passing Monday:

• AB 1787, which would require non-English speakers using a translator to be given at least twice the amount of allotted time for public comment during a public meeting subject to California's open meetings laws. The legislation passed the Senate by a 31-to-5 vote.

• AB 2611, which would grant conditional exemption from public disclosure of a video or audio recording of the death of a peace officer without the consent of the officer's immediate family. The legislation cleared the Senate by a 23-to-6 vote.