CALIFORNIANS AWARE

OPEN GOVERNMENT FREE SPEECH PROTECTED REPORTING

August 7, 2017

Assemblymember Raul Bocanegra
California State Capitol
P.O. Box 942849, Sacramento, CA 94249-0039

RE: AB 1455 Request for Amendment

Dear Assemblymember Bocanegra,

Californians Aware (CalAware), a nonpartisan nonprofit organization
established to combat needless secrecy in government, asks that you amend
AB 1455, which would create a major new exemption from disclosure under
the California Public Records Act (CPRA), with a balancing provision to ensure
true conformity with the bargaining law governing state agency employers.

The bill would permit cities and other local agencies whose employee relations
are governed by the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act to keep secret records that
reveal a local agencys deliberative processes, impressions, evaluations,
opinions, recommendations, meeting minutes, research, work products,
theories, or strategy, or that provide instruction, advice, or training to
employees who do not have full collective bargaining and representation rights
under that chapter.

As it now stands, AB 1455 is one-sided. It has been consistently described as
little more than giving local government agencies the same confidential
protection for their collective bargaining strategies that state agencies have
enjoyed for years.
"(T)he author believes. . . this bill will bring the law as it applies to local
agencies and employees into conformity with existing exemptions provided to
collective bargaining negotiations between state agencies and employees."
Assembly Judiciary Committee Analysis, April 29; Assembly Floor Analysis, May 3.
"(T)his bill would bring the law into conformity with current exemptions for
similar collective bargaining related information for state employees and
employees of public higher education institutions." Senate Public Employment
and Retirement Committee Analysis, June 21.
"(T)his bill would provide parity by exempting from disclosure under the
CPRA documents related to collective bargaining between an exclusive
representative and a public agency (city, county, or other district) covered by the
Meyers-Milias Brown Act." Senate Judiciary Committee Analysis, July 17.

2218 Homewood Way Carmichael, CA 95608 916 487-7000 info@calaware.org www.calaware.org


AB 1455 Request for Amendment
Californians Aware
August 7, 2017
Page 2 of 2

But the purported parity with state agency labor bargaining law is illusory,
since state employers and employee bargaining units must "sunshine" their
negotiations in specific public proceedings not required of cities, counties and
special districts. Government Code section 3523 requires that:
Employee bargaining units must present their initial negotiating
proposals to the employing agency at a public meeting, at which point the
proposals go on the public record. And the employers must likewise present
their proposals or counterproposals to the employee units at a public meeting,
on the record as well.
Except in emergency situations, bargaining on any of the proposals
cannot begin until at least seven days after the public presentation, "to enable
the public to become informed, and to publicly express itself regarding the
proposals, as well as regarding other possible subjects of meeting and
conferring and thereafter, the employer shall, in open meeting, hear public
comment on all matters related to the meet and confer proposals."
If the employee negotiators present new proposals in the course of
bargaining, after 48 hours those proposals, and the employer agency's position
on them (if any) go on the record for public scrutiny.

By contrast at the local level, only school and community college districts are
required to sunshine their bargaining under similar (although actually much
more demanding) rules in Government Code section 3547.5, of which the
California Supreme Court has observed, in San Mateo City School District v.
PERB, 33 Cal.3d 850, 864 (1983): "Thus, although the public is excluded from
actual negotiating sessions its opportunity to be fully informed and to
express its views is preserved."

To preserve that opportunity, AB 1455 should be amended to include a
sunshine process that mirrors the one governing state agency employee
relations in Government Code section 3523.

I would be happy to answer any questions you may have on this matter.

Sincerely,



Terry Francke
General Counsel

2218 Homewood Way Carmichael, CA 95608 916 487-7000 info@calaware.org www.calaware.org