From Mike Eng’s office:

BILL TO INCREASE GOVERNMENT TRANSPARENCY, END SERIAL MEETINGS PASSES SENATE COMMITTEE

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Assembly Bill 1494, authored by Assemblymember Mike Eng (D-Monterey Park), was approved today with by the Senate Committee on Governmental Organization by a vote of 9-0.

Specifically, AB 1494 will provide state government boards and commissions with clarity regarding the prohibition of ‘serial meetings,’ which are discussions or decisions on agenda items that are made behind closed doors away from the public’s view. The Bagley-Keene Act was established to assure that all state-related business be conducted in an open forum for the public to participate.

“AB 1494 strengthens the prohibition on serial meetings to make sure that agenda item discussions and votes are discussed or voted on in a public setting,” Assemblymember Eng stated before members of the Senate policy committee. “Over time, the decorum of some board and commission members, as well as changes in technology, have poked holes in the state open meetings laws and this bill closes those holes.”

AB 1494 will next go before the entire Assembly for a vote