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June 2014 California Primary Election Voter Guide: Prop 42 - Public Records, Open Meetings

WHAT IS IT?

Requires local government compliance with laws providing for public access to local government body meetings and records of government officials. Eliminates reimbursement for costs of compliance. Fiscal Impact: Reductions in state payments to local governments in the tens of millions of dollars annually. Potential future costs on local governments in the tens of millions of dollars annually.

RELATED: June 2014 Voter Guide

FISCAL EFFECTS

Effect on State Costs and Local Revenues. By eliminating the state's responsibility for paying local government costs to follow the Public Records Act, the measure would result in savings to the state and comparable revenue reductions to local governments. The impact is likely in the tens of millions of dollars a year.

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Potential Effect on Local Costs. The measure could also change the future behavior of state officials. This is because under Proposition 42, the state could make changes to the Public Records Act and it would not have to pay local governments for their costs. Thus, state officials
might make more changes to this law than they would have otherwise. In this case, local governments could incur additional costs—potentially in the tens of millions of dollars annually in the future.

WHAT IF I VOTE YES?

The state would not be required to pay local governments for costs to follow state laws that give the public access to local government information.

WHAT IF I VOTE NO

The state would still be required to pay local governments for certain costs of providing public access to local government information.

ARGUMENT IN FAVOR OF PROPOSITION 42

Proposition 42 will cement in the Constitution the public's right to know what the government is doing and how it is doing it. Local agencies shouldn't be allowed to deny a request for public information or slam a meeting door shut based on cost.

ARGUMENT AGAINST PROPOSITION 42

Proposition 42 would amend the California Constitution to impose the cost of complying with the California Public Records Act and local open meeting laws upon the local governments involved. An alternative, not offered by this proposition, would be to impose the cost upon the state government.

Source: June 2014 California Voter Guide

TEXT

This amendment proposed by Senate Constitutional Amendment 3 of the 2013–2014 Regular Session (Resolution Chapter 123, Statutes of 2013) expressly amends the California Constitution by amending sections thereof; therefore, new provisions proposed to be added are printed in italic type to indicate that they are new.
PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO SECTION 3 OF ARTICLE I AND SECTION 6 OF ARTICLE XIII B

First—That Section 3 of Article I thereof is amended to read:

SEC. 3. (a) The people have the right to instruct their representatives, petition government for redress of grievances, and assemble freely to consult for the common good.

(b) (1) The people have the right of access to information concerning the conduct of the people's business, and, therefore, the meetings of public bodies and the writings of public officials and agencies shall be open to public scrutiny.

(2) A statute, court rule, or other authority, including those in effect on the effective date of this subdivision, shall be broadly construed if it furthers the people's right of access, and narrowly construed if it limits the right of access. A statute, court rule, or other authority adopted after the effective date of this subdivision that limits the right of access shall be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest.

(3) Nothing in this subdivision supersedes or modifies the right of privacy guaranteed by Section 1 or affects the construction of any statute, court rule, or other authority to the extent that it protects that right to privacy, including any statutory procedures governing
discovery or disclosure of information concerning the official performance or professional qualifications of a peace officer.

(4) Nothing in this subdivision supersedes or modifies any provision of this Constitution, including the guarantees that a person may not be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, or denied equal protection of the laws, as provided in Section 7.

(5) This subdivision does not repeal or nullify, expressly or by implication, any constitutional or statutory exception to the right of access to public records or meetings of public bodies that is in effect on the effective date of this subdivision, including, but not limited to, any statute protecting the confidentiality of law enforcement and prosecution records.

(6) Nothing in this subdivision repeals, nullifies, supersedes, or modifies protections for the confidentiality of proceedings and records of the
Legislature, the Members of the Legislature, and its employees, committees, and caucuses provided by Section 7 of Article IV, state law, or legislative rules adopted in furtherance of those provisions; nor does it affect the scope of permitted discovery in judicial or administrative proceedings regarding deliberations of the Legislature, the Members of the Legislature, and its employees, committees, and caucuses.

(7) In order to ensure public access to the meetings of public bodies and the writings of public officials and agencies, as specified in paragraph (1), each local agency is hereby required to comply with the California Public Records Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with
Section 6250) of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code) and the Ralph M. Brown Act (Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 54950) of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5 of the Government Code), and with any subsequent statutory enactment amending either act, enacting a successor act, or amending any successor act that contains findings demonstrating that the statutory enactment furthers the purposes of this
section.

Second—That Section 6 of Article XIII B thereof is amended to read:

SEC. 6. (a) Whenever the Legislature or any state agency mandates a new program or higher level of service on any local government, the State shall provide a subvention of funds to reimburse that local government for the costs of the program or increased level of service, except that the Legislature may, but need not, provide a subvention of funds for the following mandates:

(1) Legislative mandates requested by the local agency affected.

(2) Legislation defining a new crime or changing an existing definition of a crime.

(3) Legislative mandates enacted prior to January 1, 1975, or executive orders or regulations initially implementing legislation enacted prior to January 1, 1975.

(4) Legislative mandates contained in statutes within the scope of paragraph (7) of subdivision (b) of Section 3 of Article I.

(b) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), for the 2005–06 fiscal year and every subsequent fiscal year, for a mandate for which the costs of a local government claimant have been determined in a preceding fiscal year to be payable by the State pursuant to law, the Legislature shall either appropriate, in the annual Budget Act, the full payable amount that has not been previously paid, or suspend the operation of the mandate for the fiscal year for which the annual Budget Act is applicable in a manner prescribed by law.

(2) Payable claims for costs incurred prior to the 2004–05 fiscal year that have not been paid prior to the 2005–06 fiscal year may be paid over a term of years, as prescribed by law.

(3) Ad valorem property tax revenues shall not be used to reimburse a local government for the costs of a new program or higher level of service.

(4) This subdivision applies to a mandate only as it affects a city, county, city and county, or special district.

(5) This subdivision shall not apply to a requirement to provide or recognize any procedural or substantive protection, right, benefit, or employment status of any local government employee or retiree, or of any local government employee organization, that arises from,
affects, or directly relates to future, current, or past local government employment and that constitutes a mandate subject to this section.

(c) A mandated new program or higher level of service includes a transfer by the Legislature from the State to cities, counties, cities and counties, or special districts of complete or partial financial responsibility for a required program for which the State previously
had complete or partial financial responsibility.

Source: June 2014 California Voter Guide

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