STRADLING YOCCA CARLSON & RAUTH
A PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION
4903-6405-0807V3/022283-0571
MEMORANDUM
TO: Board of Directors,
California Choice Energy Authority
(“Authority”)
FILE NUMBER: 022283-0571
FROM: Allison Burns, General Counsel
DATE: November 13, 2025
SUBJECT: Relevant 2026 Changes to the Ralph M. Brown Act, California Public Records Act (“CPRA”) and Political Reform Act
Recently, Governor Newsom signed SB 707, AB 370, and AB 1286 into law, amending several sections of and introducing material changes to Government Code section 54950 et seq. (the “Brown Act”), the California Public Records Act (“CPRA”), and the Political Reform Act. Below is a brief memorandum summarizing (i) the relevant changes to each statute, many of which come into effect on January 1, 2026, and (ii) the applicability of those changes on the Authority. Unless otherwise stated, all section references are to the Government Code.
CHANGES TO THE BROWN ACT
I. Executive Summary of Changes to the Brown Act
The following changes to the Brown Act apply to all public entities:
• Allows, with certain requirements met, for members of a legislative body to appear remotely as a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act. (Gov. Code § 54953(c).)
• Revises the teleconferencing rules to eliminate the “emergency circumstances” exception for remote appearance, which required a vote of the legislative body to approve, and combines these with the “just cause” exception for remote appearance. (Gov. Code § 54953.8.3.) • Extends the provision that allows members of the legislative body to provide information or solicit information from members of the public via social media, without those actions constituting a “meeting,” as long as other members of the legislative body do not communicate in the same post. This provision originally had a sunset date of July 1, 2026, but has been made permanent. (Gov. Code §54952.2(b)(3)(A).)
• Requires the Authority to provide a hard copy of the Brown Act to all members of the legislative body. (Gov. Code § 54952.7.)
• Reaffirms the right of the public to record open meetings of legislative bodies, removing limited references to obsolete recording methods. (Gov. Code § 54953.5.) Memorandum –
November 13, 2025
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• Extends and clarifies the right of the presiding member of the legislative body to remove disruptive meeting participants, including those attending remotely. (Gov Code § 54957.95.) The following changes apply only to eligible multijurisdictional bodies, defined as legislative bodies that include representatives who are appointed to the board from more than one county, city, city and county, or special district, or the legislative body of a joint powers entity formed pursuant to an agreement entered into in accordance with Government Code section 6500 et seq. The Authority is an eligible multijurisdictional body:
• Allows eligible multijurisdictional bodies to conduct teleconference meetings if certain requirements are met, and at least a quorum of the members participate from physical locations that are open to the public and within the boundaries of the body’s jurisdiction. This new remote teleconferencing is only available for a limited number of times a year, and is not intended to allow members to solely participate by remote appearance.
II. Changes Applicable to all Public Agencies
1. New Teleconferencing Rules as Reasonable Accommodation under the ADA Under SB 707, members of the legislative body may now participate remotely by teleconference as a reasonable accommodation for a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The following requirements must be met by any member seeking to participate remotely as a reasonable accommodation.
• The member appearing remotely must participate using both audio and visual technology, except any member with a disability may participate through only audio technology if a physical condition related to their disability results in the need to participate off-camera; • The member appearing remotely must disclose at the meeting if another adult is in the room with them and the general nature of that adult’s relationship with the member; • The member’s remote participation counts towards a quorum of the board members appearing in person and must be reflected in the minutes.
2. Post COVID Remote Attendance Rules
SB 707 changes the teleconferencing rules established during the COVID-19 pandemic and extends the sunset for these provisions through December 31, 2029.
The rules establishing teleconferencing during the COVID-19 Pandemic allowed remoted appearance under two circumstances: “just cause” and “emergency circumstances,” which had different requirements in order for a member to participate by teleconferencing.
SB 707 deletes the “emergency circumstances” provision, which required a vote of the legislative body, and expands the definition of “just cause” to include those events that previously fell under the “emergency circumstances” exception, such as caregiving, illness, family medical emergencies, and military service.
Memorandum –
November 13, 2025
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Teleconferencing under the “just cause” provision requires the remote appearance be disclosed on the agenda, all votes at the meeting to be taken by rollcall, and the meeting be conducted in a manner that protects the statutory and constitutional rights of both the member and the public appearing before the legislative body.
3. Social Media Rules
SB 707 removes the sunset date for Section 54952.2, regarding social media communications between members of a legislative body and members of the public. It extends the provision that allows a member of a legislative body to communicate on social media platforms with members of the public to answer questions, and/or to provide or solicit information from the public regarding a matter within the legislative body’s subject matter jurisdiction. However, the latter types of communications are only allowed as long as a majority of the members of the legislative body do not use any social media platform to “discuss among themselves” official business.
4. Public Agencies Must Provide all Members of Board a Copy of the Brown Act SB 707 amends Section 54952.7 to require all local agencies to provide a copy of the Brown Act to any person elected or appointed to serve as a member of the legislative body. The previous version of the law made this section optional; it is now mandatory to provide a copy of the Brown Act to all members.
5. Members of the Public May Record Open Meetings
SB 707 amends Section 54953.5 to remove the limitation of the means and methods by which a member of the public can record an open meeting, clarifying that members of the public can record open meetings with any recording device. The previous version of the section stated that recording could be made with a still or motion picture camera. (Gov. Code § 54953.5)
6. Legislative Body Response to Meeting Disruptions
SB 707 amends Section 54957.95 to clarify that the presiding member may remove those participants who are disrupting a meeting, whether the disrupting participants are in person or appearing remotely, under the same standards.
III. New Provisions Affecting Multijurisdictional Legislative Bodies The following changes apply only to eligible multijurisdictional bodies, defined as legislative bodies that include representatives who are appointed to the board from more than one county, city, city and county, or special district, or the legislative body of a joint powers entity formed pursuant to an agreement entered into in accordance with Government Code section 6500 et seq. The Authority is an eligible multijurisdictional body:
1. New Teleconferencing Rules for Multijurisdictional Legislative Bodies SB 707 adds Section 54953.8.7 to the Brown Act, providing eligible multijurisdictional bodies to conduct teleconference meetings if certain requirements are met, and at least a quorum of the members Memorandum –
November 13, 2025
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participate from physical locations that are open to the public and within the boundaries of the body’s jurisdiction.
If the eligible multijurisdictional body wishes to use the teleconferencing provisions of Section 54953.8.7, the board must:
1. Adopt a resolution at a regular open session authorizing teleconferencing;
2. Ensure a quorum of the board participates in person from locations within the jurisdiction of the body that are accessible to members of the public;
3. Compensated members must appear in person and may not use this teleconferencing procedure;
4. The location of the members utilizing teleconferencing must be more than 20 miles from the location in which a quorum of the board is participating in person;
5. The member appearing remotely must participate using both audio and visual technology;
6. Is only available to members twice a year if the legislative body meets once a month; 5 times a year if the legislative body meets twice a month; and 7 times a year if the legislative body meets 3 or more times per month.
7. All other public participation rules must be followed.
IV. New Requirements for Eligible Legislative Bodies
Eligible legislative bodies are defined as:
(A) A city council of a city with a population of 30,000 or more. (B) A county board of supervisors of a county, or city and county, with a population of 30,000 or more.
(C) A city council of a city located in a county with a population of 600,000 or more. (D) The board of directors of a special district that has an internet website and meets any of the following conditions:
(i) The boundaries of the special district include the entirety of a county with a population of 600,000 or more, and the special district has over 200 full-time equivalent employees. (ii) The special district has over 1,000 full-time equivalent employees. (iii) The special district has annual revenues, based on the most recent Financial Transaction Report data published by the California State Controller, that exceed four hundred million dollars ($400,000,000), adjusted annually for inflation commencing January 1, 2027, as measured by the percentage change in the California Consumer Price Index from January 1 of the prior year to January 1 of the current year, and the special district employs over 200 full-time equivalent employees.
The Authority/District is not an eligible legislative body and therefore the following summary is provided for informational purposes only:
Memorandum –
November 13, 2025
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The following changes go into effect on July 1, 2026 and apply only to eligible legislative bodies, defined as cities or counties with a population of 30,000 or more, cities located within counties with a population of 600,000 or more, and special districts whose boundaries include the entirety of a county with a population of 600,000 or more and has over 200 full-time employees, or with over 1000 full-time employees, or annual revenues of over $400,000,000. The Authority is not an eligible legislative body, therefore the below changes are not applicable to the Authority, but are presented for informational purposes only.
• Eligible legislative bodies must include an opportunity for members of the public to attend via a two-way telephonic service or a two-way audiovisual platform, including the ability to provide public comment. (Gov. Code § 54953.4(b)(1)(A)(i)(I)(ia).) • Before July 1, 2026, eligible legislative bodies shall approve, at a noticed public meeting, a policy regarding disruption of telephonic or internet service during meetings, and the procedures for recessing and reconvening a meeting in the event of a disruption. (Gov. Code § 54953.4(b)(1)(A)(i)(I)(ib).)
• Eligible legislative bodies shall reasonably assist members of the public who wish to receive interpretation by: (i) arranging extra space for interpreters, (ii) allowing extra time during the meeting for interpretation to occur, and (iii) ensuring participants are able to use their own personal equipment for interpretation services, as long as it does not disrupt the meeting. (Gov.
Code § 54953.4(b)(2)(A).)
• Eligible legislative bodies must create and maintain an accessible internet webpage dedicated to public meetings (“Meeting Webpage”) that includes, or provides a link to (i) a general explanation of the public meeting process; (ii) an explanation of the procedures for a member of the public to provide in-person or remote oral public comment during a public meeting; (iii) a calendar of all public meeting dates with calendar listings that include the date, time, and location of each public meeting; and (iv) posted agendas. (Gov. Code § 54953.4(b)(3)(B)(i).) • Eligible legislative bodies must have a system in place for accepting and fulfilling requests for meeting materials through email or online agenda management platform. • Eligible legislative bodies must translate their posted agendas and Meeting Webpage into applicable language, defined as languages spoken by more 20 percent or more of the applicable population, provided that 20 percent or more of that population (i.e., 20% of the 20% that speaks an applicable language) that speaks that language also speaks English less than “very well.”1 (Gov. Code § 54953.4(c)(1)(A).)
1 The exact text of the statute is ambiguous as to whether the 20% of the population that speaks an applicable language must also speak English less than very well, or whether only 20% of that population (i.e., 5%) must speak English less than very well to trigger the translation requirement. This Memorandum takes the conservative interpretation that requires translation of the agenda and Meeting Webpage if 20% of the population that speaks an applicable language also speaks English less than very well.
Memorandum –
November 13, 2025
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2026 CHANGES TO THE CPRA
AB 370 amends Section 7922.535 to require a public agency that is citing unusual circumstances involving a declared state of emergency as the basis for requesting a 14 day extension to respond to a public records request to show that the declared state of emergency both currently and “directly” affects the agency’s ability to provide a timely response. AB 370 also adds a new basis on which a public agency can request a 14-day extension to respond, related to cyberattacks that make the agency unable to access its electronic documents.
2026 CHANGES TO THE POLITICAL REFORM ACT
AB 1286 adds Government Code sections 82004.2 and 87207.5 and amends sections 87202, 87203, and 87204 to provide that elected and appointed officials must disclose any “arrangement for prospective employment” on their Form 700. An “arrangement for prospective employment” means an agreement pursuant to which a prospective employer’s offer of employment has been accepted by the prospective employee.