California Senate Bill SB570 Introduced / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: SB 570INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Senator DeSaulnier FEBRUARY 22, 2013 An act to amend Section 54950 of the Government Code, relating to local government. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 570, as introduced, DeSaulnier. Local government: open meetings. Existing law, the Ralph M. Brown Act, requires each legislative body of a local agency to provide notice of the time and place for its regular meetings and an agenda containing a brief general description of each item of business to be transacted. The act also requires that all meetings of a legislative body be open and public, and that all persons be permitted to attend unless a closed session is authorized. This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to a provision of the Ralph M. Brown Act. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 54950 of the Government Code is amended to read: 54950.  (a)    In enacting this chapter, the Legislature finds and declares that the public commissions, boards  and   ,  councils  ,  and the other public agencies in this  State   state  exist to aid in the conduct of the people's business. It is the intent of the law that their actions be taken openly and that their deliberations be conducted openly.  The   (b)     The  people of this  State   state  do not yield their sovereignty to the agencies  which   that  serve them. The people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know. The people insist on remaining informed  ,  so that they may retain control over the instruments they have created.