San Pablo City Council
September 15, 2025

AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 5, 2025
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 2, 2025
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 17, 2025
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 8, 2025
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 29, 2025
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 7, 2025
SENATE BILL No. 707
Introduced by Senator Durazo
(Principal coauthor: Senator Arreguín)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Arambula, Fong, and Blanca Rubio) February 21, 2025
An act to amend Sections 54952.7, 54953, 54953.5, 54953.7, 54954.2, 54954.3, 54956, 54956.5, 54957.6, 54957.9, and 54957.95 of, to amend and repeal Section 54952.2 of, to add Sections 54953.8, 54953.8.1, 54953.8.2, and 54957.96 to, and to add and repeal Sections 54953.4, 54953.8.3, 54953.8.4, 54953.8.5, 54953.8.6, and 54953.8.7 of, the Government Code, relating to local government.
legislative counsel’s digest
SB 707, as amended, Durazo. Open meetings: meeting and
teleconference requirements.
(1)  Existing law, the Ralph M. Bro wn Act, requires, with specified exceptions, that all meetings of a legislative body, as defined, of a local agency be open and public and that all persons be permitted to attend and participate.

93 This bill would, beginning July 1, 2026, and until January 1, 2030, require an eligible legislative body, as defined, to comply with additional meeting requirements, including that, except as specified, all open and public meetings include an opportunity for members of the public to attend via a 2-way telephonic service or a 2-way audiovisual platform, as defined, and that the eligible legislative body take specified actions to encourage residents to participate in public meetings, as specified.

The bill would r equire an eligible le gislative body, on or befor e July 1, 2026, to approve at a noticed public meeting in open session a policy regarding disruption of telephonic or internet services occurring during meetings subject to these pr ovisions, as specified, and would r equire the eligible legislative body to comply with certain requirements relating to disruption, including for certain disruptions, r ecessing the open session for at least one hour and making a good faith attempt to restore the service, as specified.
(2)  Existing law prohibits a majority of the members of a legislative body, outside a meeting authorized by the act, from using a series of communications of an y kind to discuss, deliberate, or tak e action on any item of business that is within the subject matter jurisdiction of the legislative body. Existing law defines “meetings” for these purposes to mean any congregation of a majority of the members of a le gislative body at the same time and location, as specified, to hear , discuss, deliberate, or take action on any item that is within the subject matter jurisdiction of the legislative body. Until January 1, 2026, existing law excepts from the prohibition a member eng aging in separate conversations or communications outside of a meeting with an y other person using an internet-based social media platform for specified purposes, provided, among other things, that a majority of the members do not use the internet-based social media platform to discuss among themselves business of a specific nature that is within the subject matter jurisdiction of the legislative body.

This bill w ould mak e the abo ve-described e xception related to communications on an internet-based social media platform applicable indefinitely.
(3)  Existing la w requires a le gislative body, prior to taking final action, to orally report a summary of a recommendation for a final action on specified forms of compensation for a local agency executive, as defined, during the open meeting in which the final action is to be taken.
93 — 2 — SB 707

This bill w ould also require the le gislative body to mak e that oral report, as provided above, prior to taking final action on those specified forms of compensation for a department head or other similar administrative officer of the local agency.
(4)  Existing law requires a legislative body of a local agenc y or its designee, at least 72 hours before a regular meeting, to post an agenda that meets specified requirements, including that the agenda contain a brief general description of each item of b usiness to be transacted or discussed at the meeting, as specified.

This bill would, beginning July 1, 2026, and until July 1, 2030, require the agenda for each meeting of an eligible legislative body, as defined, to be translated into all applicable languages. The bill w ould define “applicable languages” to mean languages, according to data from the most recent American Community Survey, spoken jointly by 20% or more of the applicable population, as specified, pro vided that 20% or more of the population that speaks that language that in that city or county speaks English less than “v ery well,” as specified, and e xcept as provided.

Existing law requires every agenda for re gular meetings to pro vide an opportunity for members of the public to directly address the legislative body on an y item of interest of the public, as specified.

Existing law specifies that the agenda is not required to pro vide an opportunity for members of the public to address the le gislative body on an y item that has already been considered by a committee, as specified, except if the item has been substantially changed since the committee heard the item, as determined by the legislative body.

This bill would add certain exceptions to the provision related to an item that has already been considered by a committee, including excepting committees whose primary subject matter jurisdiction focuses on elections, budgets, police oversight, or privacy, removing from, or restricting access to, materials a vailable in public libraries. libraries, or taxes or related spending proposals, except as specified. (5)  Existing law authorizes a le gislative body of a local agenc y to require a copy of the act to be given to each member of the legislative body and specified persons elected to serv e as a member of the legislative body, and authorizes an elected legislative body member to require a copy to be given to each member of each legislative body all or a majority of whose members are appointed by or under the authority of the elected legislative body.
93 SB 707 — 3 —

This bill would instead require a local agenc y to provide a copy of the act to an y person elected or appointed to serv e as a member of a legislative body of the local agency.

Existing law authorizes legislative bodies of local agencies to impose requirements upon themselv es which allo w greater access to their meetings than prescribed by the minimal standards set forth in the act, and authorizes an elected le gislative body of a local agenc y to also impose those requirements on those appointed legislative bodies of the local agency of which all or a majority of the members are appointed by or under the authority of the elected legislative body.

This bill would remove the above-described requirement that members of an appointed le gislative body of a local agenc y must be appointed by or under the authority of the elected legislative body of a local agency in order for the elected legislative body to impose the above-described requirements on the appointed legislative body.
(6)  Existing law provides any person attending an open and public meeting of a legislative body of a local agency with the right to record the proceedings with an audio or visual recorder or a still or motion picture camera, as specified.

This bill would remove the reference to an audio or visual recorder or a still or motion picture camera for purposes of recording the proceedings, as described above.
(7)  Existing law authorizes a le gislative body of a local agenc y to use teleconferencing, as specified, and requires a legislative body of a local agency that elects to use teleconferencing to comply with specified general requirements, including that the local agenc y post agendas at all teleconference locations, identify each teleconference location in the notice and agenda of the meeting or proceeding, and ha ve each teleconference location be accessible to the public. Existing la w also requires that, during the teleconference, at least a quorum of the members of the legislative body participate from locations within the boundaries of the territory o ver which the local agenc y e xercises jurisdiction, except as specified.

Existing law authorizes members who are outside the jurisdiction of a health authority, as defined, that conducts a teleconferencing meeting to, notwithstanding the abo ve-described general teleconference provisions, count to wards the establishment of a quorum when participating in the teleconference if, among other things, at least 50% of the number of members that w ould establish a quorum are present 93 — 4 — SB 707

within the boundaries of the territory over which the authority exercises jurisdiction.

Existing law authorizes, in certain circumstances, the legislative body of a local agenc y to use specified alternati ve teleconferencing which include provisions related to, among others, notice of the means by which members of the public may access the meeting and offer public comment and identifying and including an opportunity for all persons to attend via a call-in option or an internet-based service option. Those circumstances in which the le gislative body of a local agenc y is authorized to use the alternati ve teleconferencing pro visions include specified circumstances relating to a state of emer gency, as defined, and, until January 1, 2026, subject to specified limitations, a member’s need to participate remotely due to just cause, defined to include, among other things, a need related to a ph ysical or mental disability , or emergency circumstances, as those terms are defined, if certain quorum and disclosure requirements are met.

Existing la w also authorizes certain eligible le gislative bodies, including neighborhood councils and student body associations and student-run community college organizations to, until January 1, 2026, use alternate teleconferencing if, among other requirements, the city council or board of trustees, as applicable, has adopted an authorizing resolution and 2⁄3 of the neighborhood city council or specified student organization, as applicable, v otes to use alternate teleconference provisions, as specified.

This bill would revise and recast the above-specified teleconferencing and alternative teleconferencing provisions to uniformly apply certain noticing, disclosure, accessibility, and public commenting provisions.

The bill would require a legislative body of a local agenc y that elects to use teleconferencing pursuant to these alternati ve teleconferencing provisions to comply with, in addition to an y other applicable requirements under the act, specified requirements, including that the legislative body provides at least either 2-way audiovisual platform or 2-way telephonic service and a li ve webcasting of the meeting as a means by which the public may, among other things, remotely hear and visually observe the meeting, and that a member of the legislative body who participates in a teleconference meeting from a remote location pursuant to these alternative teleconferencing provisions and the specific provision of law that the member relied upon to permit their participation by teleconferencing are listed in the minutes of the meeting. The bill would require the local agenc y to identify and mak e a vailable to 93 SB 707 — 5 —

legislative bodies a list of one or more meeting locations that may be available for use by the legislative bodies to conduct their meetings.

The bill would require a legislative body to allow a member with a disability, as defined, that precludes a member’s in-person attendance at meetings of the body, as specified, to participate in an y meeting of the le gislative body by remote participation, as defined, e xcept as specified. specify that nothing in the bill’s provisions is to be construed to prohibit a member of a legislative body with a disability, as defined, from participating in any meeting of the le gislative body by r emote participation as a r easonable accommodation pur suant to any applicable law. The bill w ould apply certain pro visions relati ve to, among other things, quorum establishment to that circumstance.

The bill w ould instead authorize a health authority , as defined, to conduct a teleconference meeting pursuant to the abo ve-described alternative teleconferencing provisions.

The bill w ould re vise and recast the alternati ve teleconferencing provisions applicable in a state of emergency, as defined. The bill would also include a local emergency, as defined, as a circumstance in which a legislative body of a local agency is authorized to use the alternative teleconferencing provisions.

The bill w ould re vise and recast the alternati ve teleconferencing provisions applicable in cases of a member’s need to participate remotely due to just cause or emer gency circumstances, as defined, to remo ve the provision applicable to emergency circumstances, to revise related definitions, including broadening the definition of just cause to include include, among other things, a physical or family medical emergency that prevents a member from attending in person, and to require the minutes for a meeting to identify the specific provision of law that each member relied upon to participate remotely, as specified. The bill would extend the authorization to use the alternative teleconferencing provision until January 1, 2030.

The bill w ould re vise and recast the alternati ve teleconferencing provisions applicable to neighborhood councils and student body associations and student-run community college organizations In regards to the alternative teleconferencing provisions applicable to student body associations and student-run community college organizations, the bill would exempt the California Online Community College from specified requirements for an in-person quorum, a ph ysical location for public participation, and certain accommodations under the authorization, and remove the ability for a person with a disability that requires certain 93 — 6 — SB 707

accommodations to count towards the in-person quorum requirement.

The bill would specify that the California community colle ge student body associations and student-run community colle ge or ganizations described above are those in any community college recognized within the California Community Colle ges system, and w ould e xtend the authorization to the Student Senate for California Community Colleges.

The bill w ould e xtend the authorization to use the alternati ve teleconferencing provisions applicable to neighborhood councils and student body associations and student-run community colle ge organizations until January 1, 2030.

The bill w ould, until January 1, 2030, also authorize a specified subsidiary body of local agencies to conduct a teleconference meeting pursuant to the above-described alternative teleconferencing provisions, provided that it complies with the requirements for alternati ve teleconferencing described above and additional requirements, including that the subsidiary body designates at least one physical meeting location within the boundaries of the legislative body that created the subsidiary body where members of the subsidiary body who are not participating remotely shall be pr esent and members of the public may ph ysically attend, observe, hear, and participate in the meeting, as specified.

The bill w ould, until January 1, 2030, also authorize specified multijurisdictional bodies of local agencies to conduct a teleconference meeting pursuant to the abo ve-described alternative teleconferencing provisions, pro vided that it complies with the requirements for alternative teleconferencing described abo ve and additional requirements, including that the eligible multijurisdictional body has adopted a resolution that authorizes the multijurisdictional body to use teleconferencing at a regular meeting in open session.

The bill w ould specify that these teleconferencing pro visions are cumulative, and would authorize a legislative body to elect to use any teleconferencing provisions that are applicable to a meeting, regardless of whether an y other teleconferencing pro visions w ould also be applicable to that meeting.

Existing law defines “teleconference” for purposes of the authorization for a legislative body of a local agency to use teleconferencing to mean a meeting of a legislative body, the members of which are in different locations, connected by electronic means, through either audio or video, or both.

This bill w ould specify that “teleconference” does not include the attendance of one or more members of a legislative body in a meeting 93 SB 707 — 7 —

of the body solely by watching or listening via webcasting or any other similar electronic medium that does not permit members to interactively speak, discuss, or deliberate on matters.
(8)  Existing law authorizes a special meeting to be called an y time by, among other persons, the presiding officer of the le gislative body of a local agency, by delivering specified written notices and posting a notice on the local agenc y’s internet website, if the local agenc y has one. Existing law requires specified legislative bodies to comply with the internet website posting requirement.

The bill would remove the requirement that only specified legislative bodies comply with the internet website posting requirement, thereby imposing that requirement on all legislative bodies.
(9)  Existing law authorizes a le gislative body of a local agenc y to hold an emergency meeting without complying with specified notice and posting requirements in the case of specified emer gency circumstances, as specified, and imposes v arious requirements under these pro visions applicable to either le gislative bodies generally or legislative bodies which are a school board.

This bill w ould remo ve the school board distinction from the above-described provisions, thereby imposing the same requirements to hold an emergency meeting on all legislative bodies of local agencies.

By imposing additional duties on legislative bodies of local agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
(10)  Existing law authorizes, in addition to other related specified authorizations, the presiding member of the legislative body conducting a meeting or their designee to remo ve, or cause the remo val of, an individual for disrupting the meeting. Existing law defines “disrupting” for these purposes to mean engaging in behavior during a meeting of a legislative body that actually disrupts, disturbs, impedes, or renders infeasible the orderly conduct of the meeting, as specified.

This bill would specify that a meeting for purposes of that provision includes any teleconferenced meeting. The bill would specify that the existing authority of a legislative body or its presiding officer to remove or limit participation by individuals or groups of persons who engage in behavior that actually disrupts, disturbs, impedes, or renders infeasible the orderly conduct of the meeting, as specified, applies to members of the public participating in a meeting via a 2-way telephonic service or a 2-way audiovisual platform, as those terms are defined. (11)  The bill would make other updates to references in the act. 93 — 8 — SB 707

(12)  Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest.

This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. (13)  The California Constitution requires local agencies, for the purpose of ensuring public access to the meetings of public bodies and the writings of public officials and agencies, to comply with a statutory enactment that amends or enacts laws relating to public records or open meetings and contains findings demonstrating that the enactment furthers the constitutional requirements relating to this purpose.

This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. (14)  The bill would include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities. (15)  The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state.

Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.​ State-mandated local program: yes.​
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
line 1 SECTION 1. Section 54952.2 of the Government Code , as line 2 amended by Section 1 of Chapter 89 of the Statutes of 2020, is line 3 amended to read:
line 4 54952.2. (a)  As used in this chapter , “meeting” means an y line 5 congregation of a majority of the members of a le gislative body line 6 at the same time and location, including teleconference location line 7 as permitted by Section 54953, to hear, discuss, deliberate, or take line 8 action on any item that is within the subject matter jurisdiction of line 9 the legislative body.
line 10 (b)  (1)  A majority of the members of a le gislative body shall line 11 not, outside a meeting authorized by this chapter , use a series of line 12 communications of any kind, directly or through intermediaries, line 13 to discuss, deliberate, or take action on any item of business that line 14 is within the subject matter jurisdiction of the legislative body. 93 SB 707 — 9 —

line 1 (2)  Paragraph (1) shall not be construed as pre venting an line 2 employee or official of a local agency, from engaging in separate line 3 conversations or communications outside of a meeting authorized line 4 by this chapter with members of a le gislative body in order to line 5 answer questions or pro vide information regarding a matter that line 6 is within the subject matter jurisdiction of the local agency, if that line 7 person does not communicate to members of the legislative body line 8 the comments or position of any other member or members of the line 9 legislative body.
line 10 (3)  (A)  Paragraph (1) shall not be construed as pre venting a line 11 member of the le gislative body from eng aging in separate line 12 conversations or communications on an internet-based social media line 13 platform to answer questions, pro vide information to the public, line 14 or to solicit information from the public regarding a matter that is line 15 within the subject matter jurisdiction of the le gislative body line 16 provided that a majority of the members of the le gislative body line 17 do not use the internet-based social media platform to discuss line 18 among themselves business of a specific nature that is within the line 19 subject matter jurisdiction of the le gislative body. A member of line 20 the le gislative body shall not respond directly to an y line 21 communication on an internet-based social media platform line 22 regarding a matter that is within the subject matter jurisdiction of line 23 the legislative body that is made, posted, or shared by an y other line 24 member of the legislative body.
line 25 (B)  For purposes of this paragraph, all of the follo wing line 26 definitions shall apply:
line 27 (i)  “Discuss among themselves” means communications made, line 28 posted, or shared on an internet-based social media platform line 29 between members of a le gislative body, including comments or line 30 use of digital icons that express reactions to communications made line 31 by other members of the legislative body.
line 32 (ii)  “Internet-based social media platform” means an online line 33 service that is open and accessible to the public. line 34 (iii)  “Open and accessible to the public” means that members line 35 of the general public have the ability to access and participate, free line 36 of charge, in the social media platform without the appro val by line 37 the social media platform or a person or entity other than the social line 38 media platform, including an y forum and chatroom, and cannot line 39 be blocked from doing so, except when the internet-based social 93 — 10 — SB 707

line 1 media platform determines that an individual violated its protocols line 2 or rules.
line 3 (c)  Nothing in this section shall impose the requirements of this line 4 chapter upon any of the following:
line 5 (1)  Individual contacts or conversations between a member of line 6 a le gislative body and an y other person that do not violate line 7 subdivision (b).
line 8 (2)  The attendance of a majority of the members of a legislative line 9 body at a conference or similar g athering open to the public that line 10 involves a discussion of issues of general interest to the public or line 11 to public agencies of the type represented by the legislative body, line 12 provided that a majority of the members do not discuss among line 13 themselves, other than as part of the scheduled program, business line 14 of a specified nature that is within the subject matter jurisdiction line 15 of the local agency. Nothing in this paragraph is intended to allow line 16 members of the public free admission to a conference or similar line 17 gathering at which the organizers have required other participants line 18 or registrants to pay fees or charges as a condition of attendance. line 19 (3)  The attendance of a majority of the members of a legislative line 20 body at an open and publicized meeting or ganized to address a line 21 topic of local community concern by a person or organization other line 22 than the local agency, provided that a majority of the members do line 23 not discuss among themselves, other than as part of the scheduled line 24 program, business of a specific nature that is within the subject line 25 matter jurisdiction of the legislative body of the local agency. line 26 (4)  The attendance of a majority of the members of a legislative line 27 body at an open and noticed meeting of another body of the local line 28 agency, or at an open and noticed meeting of a legislative body of line 29 another local agency, provided that a majority of the members do line 30 not discuss among themselves, other than as part of the scheduled line 31 meeting, business of a specific nature that is within the subject line 32 matter jurisdiction of the legislative body of the local agency. line 33 (5)  The attendance of a majority of the members of a legislative line 34 body at a purely social or ceremonial occasion, pro vided that a line 35 majority of the members do not discuss among themselves business line 36 of a specific nature that is within the subject matter jurisdiction of line 37 the legislative body of the local agency.
line 38 (6)  The attendance of a majority of the members of a legislative line 39 body at an open and noticed meeting of a standing committee of line 40 that body, provided that the members of the legislative body who 93 SB 707 — 11 —

line 1 are not members of the standing committee attend only as line 2 observers.
line 3 SEC. 2. Section 54952.2 of the Government Code, as added line 4 by Section 2 of Chapter 89 of the Statutes of 2020, is repealed. line 5 SEC. 3. Section 54952.7 of the Government Code is amended line 6 to read:
line 7 54952.7. A local agency shall provide a copy of this chapter line 8 to an y person elected or appointed to serv e as a member of a line 9 legislative body of the local agency.
line 10 SEC. 4. Section 54953 of the Government Code, as amended line 11 by Section 2 of Chapter 534 of the Statutes of 2023, is amended line 12 to read:
line 13 54953. (a)  All meetings of the le gislative body of a local line 14 agency shall be open and public, and all persons shall be permitted line 15 to attend an y meeting of the le gislative body of a local agenc y, line 16 except as otherwise provided in this chapter.
line 17 (b)  (1)  Notwithstanding an y other pro vision of la w, the line 18 legislative body of a local agenc y may use teleconferencing for line 19 the benefit of the public and the legislative body of a local agency line 20 in connection with any meeting or proceeding authorized by law. line 21 The teleconferenced meeting or proceeding shall comply with all line 22 otherwise applicable requirements of this chapter and all otherwise line 23 applicable provisions of law relating to a specific type of meeting line 24 or proceeding.
line 25 (2)  Teleconferencing, as authorized by this section, may be used line 26 for all purposes in connection with any meeting within the subject line 27 matter jurisdiction of the le gislative body. If the legislative body line 28 of a local agenc y elects to use teleconferencing, the le gislative line 29 body of a local agency shall comply with all of the following:
line 30 (A)  All votes taken during a teleconferenced meeting shall be line 31 by rollcall.
line 32 (B)  The teleconferenced meetings shall be conducted in a line 33 manner that protects the statutory and constitutional rights of the line 34 parties or the public appearing before the le gislative body of a line 35 local agency.
line 36 (C)  The legislative body shall gi ve notice of the meeting and line 37 post agendas as otherwise required by this chapter. line 38 (D)  The legislative body shall allow members of the public to line 39 access the meeting and the agenda shall pro vide an opportunity 93 — 12 — SB 707

line 1 for members of the public to address the legislative body directly line 2 pursuant to Section 54954.3.
line 3 (3)  If the le gislative body of a local agenc y elects to use line 4 teleconferencing, it shall post agendas at all teleconference line 5 locations. Each teleconference location shall be identified in the line 6 notice and agenda of the meeting or proceeding, and each line 7 teleconference location shall be accessible to the public. During line 8 the teleconference, at least a quorum of the members of the line 9 legislative body shall participate from locations within the line 10 boundaries of the territory over which the local agency exercises line 11 jurisdiction, except as expressly provided in this chapter. line 12 (4)  The teleconferencing requirements of this subdivision shall line 13 not apply to remote participation described in subdivision (c). line 14 (c)  (1)  Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, a line 15 legislative body shall allow a member of the body with a disability, line 16 as defined in Section 12102 of Title 42 of the United States Code, line 17 that precludes the member’s in-person attendance at meetings of line 18 the body and that is not otherwise reasonably accommodated line 19 pursuant to the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 line 20 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 12101 et seq.), to participate in any meeting of the line 21 legislative body by remote participation, unless the le gislative line 22 body can demonstrate that allowing the remote participation would line 23 impose an undue hardship.
line 24 (c)  (1)  Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to prohibit a line 25 member of a legislative body with a disability from participating line 26 in any meeting of the legislative body by remote participation as line 27 a reasonable accommodation pursuant to any applicable law. line 28 (2)  A member of a le gislative body participating in a meeting line 29 by remote participation pursuant to this subdivision shall do both line 30 of the following:
line 31 (A)  The member shall participate through both audio and visual line 32 technology, except that any member with a disability, as defined line 33 in Section 12102 of Title 42 of the United States Code, that line 34 precludes the member from being physically capable of appearing line 35 on camera may participate only through audio technology . line 36 technology if a physical condition related to their disability results line 37 in a need to participate off camera.
line 38 (B)  The member shall disclose at the meeting before any action line 39 is taken, whether an y other indi viduals 18 years of age or older line 40 are present in the room at the remote location with the member , 93 SB 707 — 13 —

line 1 and the general nature of the member’ s relationship with an y of line 2 those individuals.
line 3 (3)  Remote participation under this subdivision shall be treated line 4 as in-person attendance at the ph ysical meeting location for all line 5 purposes, including an y requirement that a quorum of the line 6 legislative body participate from an y particular location. The line 7 provisions of subdivision (b) and Sections 54953.8 to 54953.8.7, line 8 inclusive, shall not apply to remote participation under this line 9 subdivision.
line 10 (d)  (1)  No legislative body shall tak e action by secret ballot, line 11 whether preliminary or final.
line 12 (2)  The legislative body of a local agency shall publicly report line 13 any action taken and the vote or abstention on that action of each line 14 member present for the action.
line 15 (3)  (A)  Prior to taking final action, the le gislative body shall line 16 orally report a summary of a recommendation for a final action line 17 on the salaries, salary schedules, or compensation paid in the form line 18 of fringe benefits of either of the following during the open meeting line 19 in which the final action is to be taken:
line 20 (i)  A local agenc y executive, as defined in subdi vision (d) of line 21 Section 3511.1.
line 22 (ii)  A department head or other similar administrati ve officer line 23 of the local agency.
line 24 (B)  This paragraph shall not affect the public’s right under the line 25 California Public Records Act (Division 10 (commencing with line 26 Section 7920.000) of Title 1) to inspect or cop y records created line 27 or received in the process of developing the recommendation. line 28 (e)  For purposes of this section, both of the following definitions line 29 apply:
line 30 (1)  “Disability” means a physical disability or a mental line 31 disability as those terms are defined in Section 12926 and used in line 32 Section 12926.1, or a disability as defined in Section 12102 of line 33 Title 42 of the United States Code.
line 34 (1)
line 35 (2)  (A)  “Teleconference” means a meeting of a legislative body, line 36 the members of which are in dif ferent locations, connected by line 37 electronic means, through either audio or video, or both. line 38 (B)  Notwithstanding paragraph (1), subpar agraph (A), line 39 “teleconference” does not include one or more members watching line 40 or listening to a meeting via webcasting or an y other similar 93 — 14 — SB 707

line 1 electronic medium that does not permit members to interacti vely line 2 speak, discuss, or deliberate on matters.
line 3 (2)
line 4 (3)  “Remote participation” means participation in a meeting by line 5 teleconference at a location other than an y ph ysical meeting line 6 location designated in the notice of the meeting. line 7 SEC. 5. Section 54953.4 is added to the Government Code, to line 8 read:
line 9 54953.4. (a)  The Legislature finds and declar es that public line 10 access, including through translation of a gendas as required by line 11 this section, is necessary for an informed populace. The Legislature line 12 encourages local a gencies to adopt public access r equirements line 13 that e xceed the r equirements of this c hapter by tr anslating line 14 additional langua ges, employing human tr anslators, and line 15 conducting additional outreach.
line 16 (b)  (1)  In addition to any other applicable requirements of this line 17 chapter, a meeting held by a eligible le gislative body pursuant to line 18 this chapter shall comply with both of the following requirements:
line 19 (A)  (i)  (I)  (ia)  All open and public meetings shall include an line 20 opportunity for members of the public to attend via a tw o-way line 21 telephonic service or a tw o-way audiovisual platform, e xcept if line 22 adequate telephonic or internet service is not operational at the line 23 meeting location. If adequate telephonic or internet service is line 24 operational at the meeting location during only a portion of the line 25 meeting, the le gislative body shall include an opportunity for line 26 members of the public to attend via a two-way telephonic service line 27 or a tw o-way audio visual platform during that portion of the line 28 meeting.
line 29 (ib)  (Ia)  On or before July 1, 2026, an eligible legislative body line 30 shall approve at a noticed public meeting in open session, not on line 31 the consent calendar, a policy regarding disruption of telephonic line 32 or internet service occurring during meetings subject to this line 33 sub-subclause. The policy shall addr ess the pr ocedures for line 34 recessing and r econvening a meeting in the e vent of disruption line 35 and the ef forts that the eligible le gislative body shall mak e to line 36 attempt to restore the service.
line 37 (Ib)  If a disruption of telephonic or internet service that prevents line 38 members of the public fr om attending or observing the meeting line 39 via the two-way telephonic service or two-way audiovisual platform line 40 occurs during the meeting, the eligible legislative body shall recess 93 SB 707 — 15 —

line 1 the open session of the meeting for at least one hour and mak e a line 2 good faith attempt to r estore the service. The eligible legislative line 3 body may meet in closed session during this period. The eligible line 4 legislative body shall not reconvene the open session of the meeting line 5 until at least one hour following the disruption, or until telephonic line 6 or internet service is restored, whichever is earlier. line 7 (Ic)  Upon reconvening the open session, if telephonic or internet line 8 service has not been r estored, the eligible le gislative body shall line 9 adopt a finding by r ollcall vote that good faith ef forts to restore line 10 the telephonic or internet service have been made in accor dance line 11 with the policy adopted pur suant to sub-sub-subclause (Ia) and line 12 that the public inter est in continuing the meeting outweighs the line 13 public interest in remote public access.
line 14 (II)  Subclause (I) does not apply to a meeting that is held to do line 15 any of the following:
line 16 (ia)  Attend a judicial or administrative proceeding to which the line 17 local agency is a party.
line 18 (ib)  Inspect real or personal property provided that the topic of line 19 the meeting is limited to items directly related to the real or line 20 personal property.
line 21 (ic)  Meet with elected or appointed officials of the United States line 22 or the State of California, solely to discuss a le gislative or line 23 regulatory issue af fecting the local agenc y and o ver which the line 24 federal or state officials have jurisdiction.
line 25 (id)  Meet in or nearby a facility owned by the agency, provided line 26 that the topic of the meeting is limited to items directly related to line 27 the facility.
line 28 (ie)  Meet in an emergency situation pursuant to Section 54956.5. line 29 (ii)  If an eligible le gislative body elects to pro vide a two-way line 30 audiovisual platform, the eligible le gislative body shall publicly line 31 post and pro vide a call-in option, and acti vate an y automatic line 32 captioning function during the meeting if an automatic captioning line 33 function is included with the two-way audiovisual platform. If an line 34 eligible le gislative body does not elect to pro vide a tw o-way line 35 audiovisual platform, the eligible legislative body shall provide a line 36 two-way telephonic service for the public to participate in the line 37 meeting, pursuant to subclause (I).
line 38 (B)  (i)  All open and public meetings for which attendance via line 39 a two-way telephonic service or a tw o-way audiovisual platform line 40 is provided in accordance with paragraph (1) shall pro vide the 93 — 16 — SB 707

line 1 public with an opportunity to pro vide public comment in line 2 accordance with Section 54954.3 via the tw o-way telephonic or line 3 two-way audiovisual platform, and ensure the opportunity for the line 4 members of the public participating via a tw o-way telephonic or line 5 two-way audiovisual platform to provide public comment with the line 6 same time allotment as a person attending a meeting in person. line 7 (2)  (A)  An eligible le gislative body shall reasonably assist line 8 members of the public who wish to translate a public meeting into line 9 any language or wish to receive interpretation provided by another line 10 member of the public, so long as the interpretation is not disrupting line 11 to the meeting, as defined in Section 54957.95. The eligible line 12 legislative body shall publicize instructions on ho w to request line 13 assistance under this subdivision. Assistance may include any of line 14 the following, as determined by the eligible legislative body:
line 15 (i)  Arranging space for one or more interpreters at the meeting line 16 location.
line 17 (ii)  Allowing extra time during the meeting for interpretation line 18 to occur.
line 19 (iii)  Ensuring participants may utilize their personal equipment line 20 or reasonably access f acilities for participants to access line 21 commercially available interpretation services. line 22 (B)  This section does not require an eligible legislative body to line 23 provide interpretation of any public meeting, however, an eligible line 24 legislative body may elect to provide interpretation of any public line 25 meeting.
line 26 (C)  The eligible le gislative body is not responsible for the line 27 content or accuracy of any interpretation facilitated, assisted with, line 28 or pro vided under this subdi vision. An action shall not be line 29 commenced or maintained ag ainst the eligible le gislative body line 30 arising from the content or accurac y of an y interpretation line 31 facilitated, assisted with, or provided under this subdivision. line 32 (3)  An eligible legislative body shall take the following actions line 33 to encourage residents, including those in underrepresented line 34 communities and non-English-speaking communities, to participate line 35 in public meetings:
line 36 (A)  Have in place a system for electronically accepting and line 37 fulfilling requests for meeting agendas and documents pursuant line 38 to Section 54954.1 through email or through an integrated agenda line 39 management platform. Information about how to make a request line 40 using this system shall be accessible through a prominent direct 93 SB 707 — 17 —

line 1 link posted on the primary internet website home page of the line 2 eligible legislative body.
line 3 (B)  (i)  Create and maintain an accessible internet webpage line 4 dedicated to public meetings that includes, or pro vides a link to, line 5 all of the following information:
line 6 (I)  A general explanation of the public meeting process for the line 7 eligible legislative body.
line 8 (II)  An explanation of the procedures for a member of the public line 9 to provide in-person or remote oral public comment during a public line 10 meeting or to submit written public comment.
line 11 (III)  A calendar of all public meeting dates with calendar listings line 12 that include the date, time, and location of each public meeting. line 13 (IV)  The agenda posted online pursuant to paragraph (2) of line 14 subdivision (a) of Section 54954.2.
line 15 (ii)  The eligible le gislative body shall include a link to the line 16 webpage required by subparagraph (A) on the home page of the line 17 eligible legislative body’s internet website.
line 18 (C)  (i)  Make reasonable efforts, as determined by the legislative line 19 body, to invite groups that do not traditionally participate in public line 20 meetings to attend those meetings, which may include, but are not line 21 limited to, all the following:
line 22 (I)  Media or ganizations that pro vide ne ws co verage in the line 23 jurisdiction of the eligible le gislative body , including media line 24 organizations that serve non-English-speaking communities. line 25 (II)  Good go vernment, ci vil rights, ci vic eng agement, line 26 neighborhood, and community group or ganizations, or similar line 27 organizations that are acti ve in the jurisdiction of the eligible line 28 legislative body , including or ganizations acti ve in line 29 non-English-speaking communities.
line 30 (ii)  Legislative bodies shall have broad discretion in the choice line 31 of reasonable efforts they make under this subparagraph. No action line 32 shall be commenced or maintained ag ainst an eligible legislative line 33 body arising from f ailing to provide public meeting information line 34 to any specific group pursuant to this section. subparagraph. line 35 (b)
line 36 (c)  (1)  (A)  The agenda for each meeting of an eligible line 37 legislative body shall be translated into all applicable languages, line 38 and each translation shall be posted in accordance with Section line 39 54954.2. Each translation shall include instructions in the line 40 applicable language describing ho w to join the meeting by the 93 — 18 — SB 707

line 1 telephonic or internet-based service option, including an y line 2 requirements for registration for public comment. line 3 (B)  The accessible internet webpage pro vided under line 4 subparagraph (B) of paragraph (3) of subdi vision (a) (b) shall be line 5 translated into all applicable languages, and each translation shall line 6 be accessible through a prominent direct link posted on the primary line 7 internet website home page of the eligible legislative body. line 8 (2)  A translation made using a digital translation service shall line 9 satisfy the requirements of paragraph (1).
line 10 (3)  The eligible legislative body shall make available a physical line 11 location that is freely accessible to the public in reasonable line 12 proximity to the ph ysical location in which the agenda and line 13 translations are posted as described in paragraph (1), and shall line 14 allow members of the public to post additional translations of the line 15 agenda in that location.
line 16 (4)  The eligible legislative body is not responsible for the content line 17 or accuracy of any translation provided pursuant to this section. line 18 subdivision. No action shall be commenced or maintained against line 19 an eligible le gislative body arising from the content, accurac y, line 20 posting, or remo val of an y translation pro vided by the eligible line 21 legislative body or posted by any person pursuant to this section. line 22 subdivision.
line 23 (5)  For the purposes of this section, the agenda does not include line 24 the entire agenda packet.
line 25 (d)  This section shall not be construed to af fect or super sede line 26 any other applicable civil rights, nondiscrimination, or public line 27 access laws.
line 28 (c)
line 29 (e)  For purposes of this section, all of the following definitions line 30 apply:
line 31 (1)  (A)  “Applicable languages” means languages, according line 32 to data from the most recent American Community Survey, spoken line 33 jointly by 20 percent or more of the applicable population, provided line 34 that 20 percent or more of the population that speaks that language line 35 in that city or county speaks English less than “very well.” line 36 (B)  For the purposes of subparagraph (A), the applicable line 37 population shall be determined as follows:
line 38 (i)  For an eligible legislative body that is a city council or county line 39 board of supervisors, the applicable population shall be the line 40 population of the city or county.
93 SB 707 — 19 —

line 1 (ii)  For an eligible le gislative body of a special district, the line 2 applicable population shall be either of the follo wing, at the line 3 discretion of the board of directors of the special district:
line 4 (I)  The population of the county with the greatest population line 5 within the boundaries of the special district.
line 6 (II)  The population of the service area of the special district, if line 7 the special district has the data to determine what languages spoken line 8 by the population within its service area meet the requirements of line 9 paragraph (A).
line 10 (C)  If more than three languages meet the criteria set forth in line 11 subparagraph (A), “applicable languages” shall mean the three line 12 languages described in subparagraph (A) that are spok en by the line 13 largest percentage of the population.
line 14 (D)  An eligible le gislative body may elect to determine the line 15 applicable languages based upon a source other than the most line 16 recent American Community Survey if it makes a finding, based line 17 upon substantial evidence, that the other source provides equally line 18 or more reliable data for the territory o ver which the eligible line 19 legislative body exercises jurisdiction.
line 20 (2)  “Eligible legislative body” means any of the following:
line 21 (A)  A city council of a city with a population of 30,000 or more. line 22 (B)  A county board of supervisors of a county , or city and line 23 county, with a population of 30,000 or more.
line 24 (C)  A city council of a city located in a county with a population line 25 of 600,000 or more.
line 26 (D)  The board of directors of a special district that has an line 27 internet website and meets any of the following conditions:
line 28 (i)  The boundaries of the special district include the entirety of line 29 a county with a population of 600,000 or more, and the special line 30 district has over 200 full-time equivalent employees. line 31 (ii)  The special district has o ver 1,000 full-time equi valent line 32 employees.
line 33 (iii)  The special district has annual revenues, based on the most line 34 recent Financial Transaction Report data published by the line 35 California State Controller, that exceed four hundred million dollars line 36 ($400,000,000), adjusted annually for inflation commencing line 37 January 1, 2027, as measured by the percentage change in the line 38 California Consumer Price Index from January 1 of the prior year line 39 to January 1 of the current year , and the special district emplo ys line 40 over 200 full-time equivalent employees.
93 — 20 — SB 707

line 1 (3)  “Two-way audiovisual platform” means an online platform line 2 that provides participants with the ability to participate in a meeting line 3 via both an interactive video conference and a two-way telephonic line 4 service.
line 5 (4)  “Two-way telephonic service” means a telephone service line 6 that does not require internet access and allows participants to dial line 7 a telephone number to listen and verbally participate. line 8 (d)
line 9 (f)  This section shall become operative on July 1, 2026. line 10 (e)
line 11 (g)  This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2030, line 12 and as of that date is repealed.
line 13 SEC. 6. Section 54953.5 of the Government Code is amended line 14 to read:
line 15 54953.5. (a)  Any person attending an open and public meeting line 16 of a legislative body of a local agency shall have the right to record line 17 the proceedings in the absence of a reasonable finding by the line 18 legislative body of the local agenc y that the recording cannot line 19 continue without noise, illumination, or obstruction of vie w that line 20 constitutes, or w ould constitute, a persistent disruption of the line 21 proceedings.
line 22 (b)  Any recording of an open and public meeting made for line 23 whatever purpose by or at the direction of the local agenc y shall line 24 be subject to inspection pursuant to the California Public Records line 25 Act (Division 10 (commencing with Section 7920.000) of Title line 26 1), but, notwithstanding Section 34090, may be erased or destroyed line 27 30 days after the recording. Any inspection of an audio or video line 28 recording shall be pro vided without char ge on equipment made line 29 available by the local agency.
line 30 SEC. 7. Section 54953.7 of the Government Code is amended line 31 to read:
line 32 54953.7. Notwithstanding an y other pro vision of la w, line 33 legislative bodies of local agencies may impose requirements upon line 34 themselves which allo w greater access to their meetings than line 35 prescribed by the minimal standards set forth in this chapter . In line 36 addition thereto, an elected legislative body of a local agency may line 37 impose those requirements on appointed legislative bodies of the line 38 local agency.
line 39 SEC. 8. Section 54953.8 is added to the Government Code, to line 40 read:
93 SB 707 — 21 —

line 1 54953.8. (a)  The legislative body of a local agenc y may use line 2 teleconferencing as authorized by subdivision (b) of Section 54953 line 3 without complying with the requirements of paragraph (3) of line 4 subdivision (b) of Section 54953 in an y of the circumstances line 5 described in Sections 54953.8.1 to 54953.8.7, inclusive. line 6 (b)  A le gislative body that holds a teleconference meeting line 7 pursuant to this section shall, in addition to an y other applicable line 8 requirements of this chapter, comply with all of the following:
line 9 (1)  The le gislative body shall pro vide at least one of the line 10 following as a means by which the public may remotely hear and line 11 visually observe the meeting, and remotely address the legislative line 12 body:
line 13 (A)  A two-way audiovisual platform.
line 14 (B)  A two-way telephonic service and a live webcasting of the line 15 meeting.
line 16 (2)  In each instance in which notice of the time of the line 17 teleconference meeting held pursuant to this section is otherwise line 18 given or the agenda for the meeting is otherwise posted, the line 19 legislative body shall also gi ve notice of the means by which line 20 members of the public may access the meeting and of fer public line 21 comment. The agenda shall identify and include an opportunity line 22 for all persons to attend via a call-in option or an internet-based line 23 service option.
line 24 (3)  In the event of a disruption that prevents the legislative body line 25 from broadcasting the meeting to members of the public using the line 26 call-in option or internet-based service option, or in the e vent of line 27 a disruption within the local agenc y’s control that pre vents line 28 members of the public from of fering public comments using the line 29 call-in option or internet-based service option, the legislative body line 30 shall take no further action on items appearing on the meeting line 31 agenda until public access to the meeting via the call-in option or line 32 internet-based service option is restored. Actions taken on agenda line 33 items during a disruption that pre vents the legislative body from line 34 broadcasting the meeting may be challenged pursuant to Section line 35 54960.1.
line 36 (4)  The legislative body shall not require public comments to line 37 be submitted in adv ance of the meeting and must pro vide an line 38 opportunity for the public to address the legislative body and offer line 39 comment in real time.
93 — 22 — SB 707

line 1 (5)  Notwithstanding Section 54953.3, an individual desiring to line 2 provide public comment through the use of an internet website, or line 3 other online platform, not under the control of the local legislative line 4 body, that requires registration to log in to a teleconference may line 5 be required to re gister as required by the third-party internet line 6 website or online platform to participate.
line 7 (6)  (A)  A legislative body that provides a timed public comment line 8 period for each agenda item shall not close the public comment line 9 period for the agenda item, or the opportunity to register, pursuant line 10 to paragraph (5), to provide public comment until that timed public line 11 comment period has elapsed.
line 12 (B)  A le gislative body that does not pro vide a timed public line 13 comment period, b ut takes public comment separately on each line 14 agenda item, shall allow a reasonable amount of time per agenda line 15 item to allow public members the opportunity to pro vide public line 16 comment, including time for members of the public to re gister line 17 pursuant to paragraph (5), or otherwise be recognized for the line 18 purpose of providing public comment.
line 19 (C)  A le gislative body that pro vides a timed general public line 20 comment period that does not correspond to a specific agenda item line 21 shall not close the public comment period or the opportunity to line 22 register, pursuant to paragraph (5), until the timed general public line 23 comment period has elapsed.
line 24 (7)  Any member of the le gislative body who participates in a line 25 teleconference meeting from a remote location pursuant to this line 26 section and the specific pro vision of law that the member relied line 27 upon to permit their participation by teleconferencing shall be line 28 listed in the minutes of the meeting.
line 29 (8)  The legislative body shall have and implement a procedure line 30 for recei ving and swiftly resolving requests for reasonable line 31 accommodation for individuals with disabilities, consistent with line 32 the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. line 33 Sec. 12132), and resolving any doubt in favor of accessibility. In line 34 each instance in which notice of the time of the meeting is line 35 otherwise given or the agenda for the meeting is otherwise posted, line 36 the legislative body shall also gi ve notice of the procedure for line 37 receiving and resolving requests for accommodation. line 38 (9)  The legislative body shall conduct meetings subject to this line 39 chapter consistent with applicable ci vil rights and line 40 nondiscrimination laws.
93 SB 707 — 23 —

line 1 (c)  A local agenc y shall identify and mak e a vailable to line 2 legislative bodies a list of one or more meeting locations that may line 3 be a vailable for use by the le gislative bodies to conduct their line 4 meetings.
line 5 (d)  (1)  Nothing in this section shall prohibit a legislative body line 6 from providing the public with additional teleconference locations. line 7 (2)  Nothing in this section shall prohibit a legislative body from line 8 providing the public with additional ph ysical locations in which line 9 the public may observ e and address the le gislative body by line 10 electronic means.
line 11 (e)  A member of a le gislative body who participates in a line 12 teleconference meeting from a remote location pursuant to this line 13 section shall publicly disclose at the meeting before any action is line 14 taken whether any other individuals 18 years of age or older are line 15 present in the room at the remote location with the member , and line 16 the general nature of the member’ s relationship with those line 17 individuals.
line 18 (f)  The teleconferencing provisions described in Section 54953 line 19 and Sections 54953.8.1 to 54953.8.7, inclusive, are cumulative. A line 20 legislative body may elect to use any teleconferencing provisions line 21 that are applicable to a meeting, re gardless of whether any other line 22 teleconferencing pro visions w ould also be applicable to that line 23 meeting.
line 24 (g)  For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:
line 25 (1)  “Remote location” means a location from which a member line 26 of a legislative body participates in a meeting pursuant to paragraph line 27 (7) of subdi vision (b), other than an y physical meeting location line 28 designated in the notice of the meeting. Remote locations need not line 29 be accessible to the public.
line 30 (2)  “Teleconference” means a meeting of a le gislative body, line 31 the members of which are in dif ferent locations, connected by line 32 electronic means, through either audio or video, or both. line 33 (3)  “Two-way audiovisual platform” means an online platform line 34 that provides participants with the ability to participate in a meeting line 35 via both an interactive video conference and a two-way telephonic line 36 service. A two-way audio visual platform may be structur ed to line 37 disable the use of video for the public participants. line 38 (4)  “Two-way telephonic service” means a telephone service line 39 that does not require internet access and allows participants to dial line 40 a telephone number to listen and verbally participate. 93 — 24 — SB 707

line 1 (5)  “Webcasting” means a streaming video broadcast online or line 2 on television, using streaming media technology to distrib ute a line 3 single content source to many simultaneous listeners and viewers. line 4 SEC. 9. Section 54953.8.1 is added to the Government Code, line 5 to read:
line 6 54953.8.1. (a)  A health authority may conduct a teleconference line 7 meeting pursuant to Section 54953.8, pro vided that it complies line 8 with the requirements of that section.
line 9 (b)  Nothing in this section or Section 54953.8 shall be construed line 10 as discouraging health authority members from regularly meeting line 11 at a common physical site within the jurisdiction of the authority line 12 or from using teleconference locations within or near the line 13 jurisdiction of the authority.
line 14 (c)  For purposes of this section, a health authority means an y line 15 entity created pursuant to Sections 14018.7, 14087.31, 14087.35, line 16 14087.36, 14087.38, and 14087.9605 of the Welfare and line 17 Institutions Code, any joint powers authority created pursuant to line 18 Article 1 (commencing with Section 6500) of Chapter 5 of Division line 19 7 for the purpose of contracting pursuant to Section 14087.3 of line 20 the Welfare and Institutions Code, and any advisory committee to line 21 a county-sponsored health plan licensed pursuant to Chapter 2.2 line 22 (commencing with Section 1340) of Division 2 of the Health and line 23 Safety Code if the advisory committee has 12 or more members. line 24 SEC. 10. Section 54953.8.2 is added to the Government Code, line 25 to read:
line 26 54953.8.2. (a)  A le gislative body of a local agenc y may line 27 conduct a teleconference meeting pursuant to Section 54953.8 line 28 during a proclaimed state of emer gency or local emer gency, line 29 provided that it complies with the requirements of that section and line 30 the teleconferencing is used in either of the follo wing line 31 circumstances:
line 32 (1)  For the purpose of determining, by majority v ote, whether line 33 as a result of the emer gency, meeting in person w ould present line 34 imminent risks to the health or safety of attendees. line 35 (2)  After a determination described in paragraph (1) is made line 36 that, as a result of the emergency, meeting in person would present line 37 imminent risks to the health or safety of attendees. line 38 (b)  If the state of emergency or local emergency remains active, line 39 in order to continue to teleconference pursuant to this section, the line 40 legislative body shall, no later than 45 days after teleconferencing 93 SB 707 — 25 —

line 1 for the first time pursuant to this section, and e very 45 days line 2 thereafter, make the following findings by majority vote:
line 3 (1)  The legislative body has reconsidered the circumstances of line 4 the state of emergency or local emergency.
line 5 (2)  The state of emer gency or local emer gency continues to line 6 directly impact the ability of the members to meet safely in person. line 7 (c)  This section shall not be construed to require the legislative line 8 body to pro vide a ph ysical location from which the public may line 9 attend or comment.
line 10 (d)  Notwithstanding paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section line 11 54953.8, a legislative body conducting a teleconference meeting line 12 pursuant to this section may elect to use a tw o-way telephonic line 13 service without a live webcasting of the meeting. line 14 (e)  For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:
line 15 (1)  “Local emergency” means a condition of e xtreme peril to line 16 persons or property proclaimed by the governing body of the local line 17 agency affected, in accordance with Section 8630 of the California line 18 Emergency Services Act (Chapter 7 (commencing with Section line 19 8550) of Division 1 of Title 2), as defined in Section 8680.9, or a line 20 local health emer gency declared pursuant to Section 101080 of line 21 the Health and Safety Code. Local emer gency, as used in this line 22 section, refers only to local emergencies in the boundaries of the line 23 territory over which the local agency exercises jurisdiction. line 24 (2)  “State of emergency” means state of emergency proclaimed line 25 pursuant to Section 8625 of the California Emer gency Services line 26 Act (Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 8550) of Division 1 of line 27 Title 2).
line 28 SEC. 11. Section 54953.8.3 is added to the Government Code, line 29 to read:
line 30 54953.8.3. (a)  A le gislative body of a local agenc y may line 31 conduct a teleconference meeting pursuant to Section 54953.8 if, line 32 during the teleconference meeting, at least a quorum of the line 33 members of the le gislative body participates in person from a line 34 singular physical location clearly identified on the agenda, which line 35 location shall be open to the public and situated within the line 36 boundaries of the territory over which the local agency exercises line 37 jurisdiction, provided that the legislative body complies with the line 38 requirements of Section 54953.8 and all of the following additional line 39 requirements:
93 — 26 — SB 707

line 1 (1)  A member of the le gislative body notifies the le gislative line 2 body at the earliest opportunity possible, including at the start of line 3 a regular meeting, of their need to participate remotely for just line 4 cause, including a general description of the circumstances relating line 5 to their need to appear remotely at the given meeting. line 6 (2)  The member shall participate through both audio and visual line 7 technology.
line 8 (3)  (A)  The provisions of this subdivision shall not serve as a line 9 means for an y member of a le gislative body to participate in line 10 meetings of the le gislative body solely by teleconference from a line 11 remote location for just cause for more than the following number line 12 of meetings, as applicable:
line 13 (i)  Two meetings per year, if the legislative body regularly meets line 14 once per month or less.
line 15 (ii)  Five meetings per year , if the le gislative body re gularly line 16 meets twice per month.
line 17 (iii)  Seven meetings per year , if the le gislative body regularly line 18 meets three or more times per month.
line 19 (B)  For the purpose of counting meetings attended by line 20 teleconference under this paragraph, a “meeting” shall be defined line 21 as any number of meetings of the legislative body of a local agency line 22 that begin on the same calendar day.
line 23 (b)  The minutes for the meeting shall identify the specific line 24 provision in subdi vision (c) that each member relied upon to line 25 participate remotely. This subdivision shall not be construed to line 26 require the member to disclose any medical diagnosis or disability, line 27 or any personal medical information that is otherwise exempt under line 28 existing law, including, but not limited to, the Confidentiality of line 29 Medical Information Act (Chapter 1 (commencing with Section line 30 56) of Part 2.6 of Division 1 of the Civil Code). line 31 (c)  For purposes of this section, “just cause” means any of the line 32 following:
line 33 (1)  Childcare or caregiving need of a child, parent, grandparent, line 34 grandchild, sibling, spouse, or domestic partner that requires them line 35 to participate remotely . “Child, ” “parent, ” “grandparent, ” line 36 “grandchild,” and “sibling” have the same meaning as those terms line 37 do in Section 12945.2.
line 38 (2)  A contagious illness that prevents a member from attending line 39 in person.
93 SB 707 — 27 —

line 1 (3)  A need related to a physical or mental condition that is not line 2 subject to subdivision (c) of Section 54953.
line 3 (4)  Travel while on official business of the legislative body or line 4 another state or local agency.
line 5 (5)  An immunocompromised child, parent, grandparent, line 6 grandchild, sibling, spouse, or domestic partner of the member line 7 that requires the member to participate remotely. line 8 (6)  A ph ysical or f amily medical emer gency that pre vents a line 9 member from attending in person.
line 10 (7)  Military service obligations that r esult in a member being line 11 unable to attend in person because they are serving under official line 12 written orders for active duty, drill, annual training, or any other line 13 duty required as a member of the California National Guard or a line 14 United States Military Reserve or ganization that r equires the line 15 member to be at least 50 miles outside the boundaries of the local line 16 agency.
line 17 (d)  This section shall not be construed to limit the ability of a line 18 legislative body to use alternative teleconferencing provisions. line 19 (e)
line 20 (d)  This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2030, line 21 and as of that date is repealed.
line 22 SEC. 12. Section 54953.8.4 is added to the Government Code, line 23 to read:
line 24 54953.8.4. (a)  An eligible neighborhood council may conduct line 25 a teleconference meeting pursuant to Section 54953.8, pro vided line 26 that it complies with the requirements of that section and all of the line 27 following have occurred:
line 28 (1)  (A)  The city council for a city described in paragraph (2) line 29 of subdi vision (b) considers whether to adopt a resolution to line 30 authorize eligible neighborhood councils to use teleconferencing line 31 as described in this section at an open and regular meeting. line 32 (B)  If the city council adopts a resolution described in line 33 subparagraph (A), an eligible neighborhood council may elect to line 34 use teleconferencing pursuant to this section if a majority of the line 35 eligible neighborhood council v otes to do so. The eligible line 36 neighborhood council shall notify the city council if it elects to line 37 use teleconferencing pursuant to this section and its justification line 38 for doing so.
line 39 (C)  Upon receiving notification from an eligible neighborhood line 40 council described in subparagraph (B), the city council may adopt 93 — 28 — SB 707

line 1 a resolution to prohibit the eligible neighborhood council from line 2 using teleconferencing pursuant to this section. line 3 (2)  After completing the requirements of subparagraph (A) of line 4 paragraph (1), an eligible neighborhood council that holds a line 5 meeting pursuant to this subdivision shall do all of the following:
line 6 (A)  At least a quorum of the members of the eligible line 7 neighborhood council shall participate from locations within the line 8 boundaries of the city in which the eligible neighborhood council line 9 is established.
line 10 (B)  At least once per year, at least a quorum of the members of line 11 the eligible neighborhood council shall participate in person from line 12 a singular physical location that is open to the public and within line 13 the boundaries of the eligible neighborhood council. line 14 (3)  If the meeting is during regular business hours of the offices line 15 of the city council member that represents the area that includes line 16 the eligible neighborhood council, the eligible neighborhood line 17 council shall provide a publicly accessible physical location from line 18 which the public may attend or comment, which shall be the offices line 19 of the city council member who represents the area where the line 20 eligible neighborhood council is located, unless the eligible line 21 neighborhood council identifies an alternative location. line 22 (4)  If the meeting is outside regular business hours, the eligible line 23 neighborhood council shall mak e reasonable ef forts to line 24 accommodate an y member of the public that requests an line 25 accommodation to participate in the meeting.
line 26 (b)  For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:
line 27 (1)  “Accommodation” means pro viding a publicly accessible line 28 physical location for the member of the public to participate from, line 29 providing access to technology necessary to participate in the line 30 meeting, or identifying locations or resources available that could line 31 provide the member of the public with an opportunity to participate line 32 in the meeting.
line 33 (2)  “Eligible neighborhood council” means a neighborhood line 34 council that is an advisory body with the purpose to promote more line 35 citizen participation in go vernment and mak e government more line 36 responsive to local needs that is established pursuant to the charter line 37 of a city with a population of more than 3,000,000 people that is line 38 subject to this chapter.
line 39 (c)  This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2030, line 40 and as of that date is repealed.
93 SB 707 — 29 —

line 1 SEC. 13. Section 54953.8.5 is added to the Government Code, line 2 to read:
line 3 54953.8.5. (a)  An eligible community colle ge student line 4 organization may conduct a teleconference meeting pursuant to line 5 Section 54953.8, provided that it complies with the requirements line 6 of that section and all of the following additional requirements:
line 7 (1)  An eligible community colle ge student or ganization may line 8 only use teleconferencing as described in Section 54953.8 after line 9 all the following have occurred:
line 10 (A)  The board of trustees for a community colle ge district line 11 considers whether to adopt a resolution to authorize eligible line 12 community college student organizations to use teleconferencing line 13 as described in this section at an open and regular meeting. line 14 (B)  If the board of trustees for a community colle ge district line 15 adopts a resolution described in subparagraph (A), an eligible line 16 community colle ge student or ganization may elect to use line 17 teleconferencing pursuant to this section if a majority of the eligible line 18 community college student organization votes to do so. The eligible line 19 community college student organization shall notify the board of line 20 trustees if it elects to use teleconferencing pursuant to this section line 21 and its justification for doing so.
line 22 (C)  Upon receiving notification from an eligible community line 23 college student organization as described in subparagraph (B), the line 24 board of trustees may adopt a resolution to prohibit the eligible line 25 community colle ge student or ganization from using line 26 teleconferencing pursuant to this section.
line 27 (D)  (i)  Except as specified in clause (ii), at least a quorum of line 28 the members of the eligible community college student organization line 29 shall participate from a singular physical location that is accessible line 30 to the public and is within the community college district in which line 31 the eligible community college student organization is established. line 32 (ii)  The requirements described in clause (i) shall not apply to line 33 the California Online Community College.
line 34 (iii)  Notwithstanding the requirements of clause (i), a person line 35 may count toward the establishment of a quorum pursuant to clause line 36 (i) regardless of whether the person is participating at the in-person line 37 location of the meeting or remotely if the person meets any of the line 38 following criteria:
line 39 (I)  The person is under 18 years of age.
line 40 (II)  The person is incarcerated.
93 — 30 — SB 707

line 1 (III)  The person is unable to disclose the location that they are line 2 participating from because of either of the following circumstances:
line 3 (ia)  The person has been issued a protecti ve court order , line 4 including, but not limited to, a domestic violence restraining order. line 5 (ib)  The person is participating in a program that has to remain line 6 confidential, including, but not limited to, an independent li ving line 7 program.
line 8 (IV)  The person pro vides childcare or care giving to a child, line 9 parent, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, spouse, or domestic partner line 10 that requires them to participate remotely . For purposes of this line 11 subclause, “child, ” “parent, ” “grandparent, ” “grandchild, ” and line 12 “sibling” have the same meaning as those terms are defined in line 13 Section 12945.2.
line 14 (2)  An eligible community colle ge student or ganization that line 15 holds a meeting by teleconference as described in Section 54953.8 line 16 shall do the following, as applicable:
line 17 (A)  (i)  Except as specified in subparagraph (B), if the meeting line 18 is during re gular b usiness hours of the offices of the board of line 19 trustees of the community college district, the eligible community line 20 college student or ganization shall pro vide a publicly accessible line 21 physical location from which the public may attend or comment, line 22 which shall be the offices of the board of trustees of the community line 23 college district, unless the eligible community colle ge student line 24 organization identifies an alternative location. line 25 (ii)  Except as specified in subparagraph (B), if the meeting is line 26 outside re gular b usiness hours, the eligible community colle ge line 27 student organization shall make reasonable efforts to accommodate line 28 any member of the public that requests an accommodation to line 29 participate in the meeting. For the purposes of this subparagraph, line 30 “accommodation” means providing a publicly accessible physical line 31 location for the member of the public to participate from, providing line 32 access to technology necessary to participate in the meeting, or line 33 identifying locations or resources available that could provide the line 34 member of the public with an opportunity to participate in the line 35 meeting.
line 36 (B)  The requirements described in subparagraph (A) shall not line 37 apply to the California Online Community College. line 38 (b)  For purposes of this section, “eligible community colle ge line 39 student organization” means a student body association organized line 40 pursuant to Section 76060 of the Education Code, or an y other 93 SB 707 — 31 —

line 1 student-run community colle ge or ganization that is required to line 2 comply with the meeting requirements of this chapter , that is in line 3 any community colle ge recognized within the California line 4 Community Colleges system and includes the Student Senate for line 5 California Community Colleges.
line 6 (c)  This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2030, line 7 and as of that date is repealed.
line 8 SEC. 14. Section 54953.8.6 is added to the Government Code, line 9 to read:
line 10 54953.8.6. (a)  An eligible subsidiary body may conduct a line 11 teleconference meeting pursuant to Section 54953.8, provided that line 12 it complies with the requirements of that section and all of the line 13 following additional requirements:
line 14 (1)  The eligible subsidiary body shall designate at least one line 15 physical meeting location within the boundaries of the legislative line 16 body that created the eligible subsidiary body where members of line 17 the subsidiary body who ar e not participating r emotely shall be line 18 present and members of the public may physically attend, observe, line 19 hear, and participate in the meeting. At least one staff member of line 20 the eligible subsidiary body or the legislative body that created the line 21 eligible subsidiary body shall be present at each the ph ysical line 22 meeting location during the meeting. The eligible subsidiary body line 23 shall post the agenda at each the physical meeting location, b ut line 24 need not post the agenda at a remote location.
line 25 (2)  (A)  A member of the eligible subsidiary body shall visibly line 26 appear on camera during the open portion of a meeting that is line 27 publicly accessible via the internet or other online platform, except line 28 if the member has a disability, as defined in Section 12102 of Title line 29 42 of the United States Code, that precludes the member from line 30 being physically capable of appearing on camera. has a physical line 31 or mental condition not subject to subdivision (c) of Section 54953 line 32 that results in a need to participate off camera. line 33 (B)  The visual appearance of a member of the eligible subsidiary line 34 body on camera may cease only when the appearance w ould be line 35 technologically impracticable, infeasible, including, but not limited line 36 to, when the member experiences a lack of reliable broadband or line 37 internet connectivity that would be remedied by joining without line 38 video, or when the visual display of meeting materials, information, line 39 or speakers on the internet or other online platform requires the 93 — 32 — SB 707

line 1 visual appearance of a member of a subsidiary body on camera to line 2 cease. video.
line 3 (C)  If a member of the eligible subsidiary body does not appear line 4 on camera due to challenges with internet connectivity, the member line 5 shall announce the reason for their nonappearance when they turn line 6 prior to turning off their camera.
line 7 (3)  An elected official serving as a member of an eligible line 8 subsidiary body in their official capacity shall not participate in a line 9 meeting of the eligible subsidiary body by teleconferencing line 10 pursuant to this section unless the use of teleconferencing complies line 11 with the requirements of paragraph (3) of subdivision (b) of Section line 12 54953.
line 13 (4)  (A)  In order to use teleconferencing pursuant to this section, line 14 the legislative body that established the eligible subsidiary body line 15 by charter, ordinance, resolution, or other formal action shall make line 16 the follo wing findings by majority v ote before the eligible line 17 subsidiary body uses teleconferencing pursuant to this section for line 18 the first time, and every 12 six months thereafter:
line 19 (i)  The legislative body has considered the circumstances of the line 20 eligible subsidiary body.
line 21 (ii)  Teleconference meetings of the eligible subsidiary body line 22 would enhance public access to meetings of the eligible subsidiary line 23 body. body, and the public has been made awar e of the type of line 24 remote participation, including audio-visual or telephonic, that line 25 will be made available at a regularly scheduled meeting and has line 26 been provided the opportunity to comment at an in-person meeting line 27 of the le gislative body authorizing the subsidiary body to meet line 28 entirely remotely.
line 29 (iii)  Teleconference meetings of the eligible subsidiary body line 30 would promote the attraction, retention, and di versity of eligible line 31 subsidiary body members.
line 32 (B)  (i)  An eligible subsidiary body authorized to use line 33 teleconferencing pursuant to this section may request to present line 34 any recommendations it de velops to the le gislative body that line 35 created it.
line 36 (ii)  Upon recei ving a request described in clause (i), the line 37 legislative body that created the subsidiary body shall hold a line 38 discussion at a re gular meeting held within 60 days after the line 39 legislative body receives the request, or if the legislative body does line 40 not have another regular meeting scheduled within 60 days after 93 SB 707 — 33 —

line 1 the legislative body receives the request, at the next regular meeting line 2 after the request is received.
line 3 (iii)  The discussion required by clause (ii) shall not be placed line 4 on a consent calendar, but may be combined with the le gislative line 5 body’s subsequent consideration of the findings described in line 6 subparagraph (A) for the following 12 months.
line 7 (iv)  The le gislative body shall not tak e an y action on an y line 8 recommendations included in the report of a subsidiary body until line 9 the ne xt re gular meeting of the le gislative body follo wing the line 10 discussion described in clause (ii).
line 11 (C)  After the legislative body makes the findings described in line 12 subparagraph (A), the eligible subsidiary body shall appro ve the line 13 use of teleconferencing by majority v ote before using line 14 teleconference pursuant to this section.
line 15 (D)  The le gislative body that created the eligible subsidiary line 16 body may elect to prohibit the eligible subsidiary body from using line 17 teleconferencing pursuant to this section at any time. line 18 (b)  (1)  For purposes of this section, “eligible subsidiary body” line 19 means a legislative body that meets all of the following:
line 20 (1)
line 21 (A)  Is described in subdivision (b) of Section 54952. line 22 (2)
line 23 (B)  Serves exclusively in an advisory capacity. line 24 (3)
line 25 (C)  Is not authorized to tak e final action on le gislation, line 26 regulations, contracts, licenses, permits, or any other entitlements, line 27 grants, or allocations of funds.
line 28 (4)
line 29 (D)  Does not have primary subject matter jurisdiction, as defined line 30 by the charter, an ordinance, a resolution, or any formal action of line 31 the legislative body that created the subsidiary body, that focuses line 32 on elections, budgets, police oversight, or privacy, removing from, line 33 or restricting access to, materials a vailable in public libraries. line 34 libraries, or taxes or related spending proposals. line 35 (2)  An eligible subsidiary body may include members who are line 36 elected officials, member s who ar e not elected officials, or any line 37 combination thereof.
line 38 (c)  This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2030, line 39 and as of that date is repealed.
93 — 34 — SB 707

line 1 SEC. 15. Section 54953.8.7 is added to the Government Code, line 2 to read:
line 3 54953.8.7. (a)  An eligible multijurisdictional body may line 4 conduct a teleconference meeting pursuant to Section 54953.8, line 5 provided that it complies with the requirements of that section and line 6 all of the following additional requirements:
line 7 (1)  The eligible multijurisdictional body has adopted a resolution line 8 that authorizes the eligible multijurisdictional body to use line 9 teleconferencing pursuant to this section at a re gular meeting in line 10 open session.
line 11 (2)  At least a quorum of the members of the eligible line 12 multijurisdictional body shall participate from one or more physical line 13 locations that are open to the public and within the boundaries of line 14 the territory over which the local agency exercises jurisdiction. line 15 (3)  A member of the eligible multijurisdictional body who line 16 receives compensation for their service on the eligible line 17 multijurisdictional body shall participate from a physical location line 18 that is open to the public. F or purposes of this paragraph, line 19 “compensation” does not include reimb ursement for actual and line 20 necessary expenses.
line 21 (4)  A member of the eligible multijurisdictional body may line 22 participate from a remote location provided that:
line 23 (A)  The eligible multijurisdictional body identifies each member line 24 of the eligible multijurisdictional body who plans to participate line 25 remotely in the agenda.
line 26 (B)  The member shall participate through both audio and visual line 27 technology.
line 28 (5)  A member of the eligible multijurisdictional body shall not line 29 participate in a meeting remotely pursuant to this section, unless line 30 the location from which the member participates is more than 20 line 31 miles each way from any physical location of the meeting described line 32 in paragraph (2).
line 33 (6)  The provisions of this section shall not serve as a means for line 34 any member of a legislative body to participate in meetings of the line 35 legislative body solely by teleconference from a remote location line 36 for more than the following number of meetings, as applicable:
line 37 (A)  Two meetings per year , if the le gislative body r egularly line 38 meets once per month or less.
line 39 (A)
93 SB 707 — 35 —

line 1 (B)  Five meetings per year , if the le gislative body re gularly line 2 meets twice per month.
line 3 (B)
line 4 (C)  Seven meetings per year , if the le gislative body re gularly line 5 meets three or more times per month.
line 6 (C)
line 7 (D)  For the purpose of counting meetings attended by line 8 teleconference under this paragraph, a “meeting” shall be defined line 9 as any number of meetings of the legislative body of a local agency line 10 that begin on the same calendar day.
line 11 (b)  For the purposes of this section, both of the follo wing line 12 definitions apply:
line 13 (1)  “Eligible multijurisdictional body” means a line 14 multijurisdictional board, commission, or advisory body of a line 15 multijurisdictional, cross-county agency, the membership of which line 16 board, commission, or advisory body is appointed, and the board, line 17 commission, or advisory body is otherwise subject to this chapter. line 18 (2)  “Multijurisdictional” means either of the following:
line 19 (A)  A legislative body that includes representatives from more line 20 than one county, city, city and county, or special district. line 21 (B)  A legislative body of a joint powers entity formed pursuant line 22 to an agreement entered into in accordance with Article 1 line 23 (commencing with Section 6500) of Chapter 5 of Di vision 7 of line 24 Title 1.
line 25 (c)  This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2030, line 26 and as of that date is repealed.
line 27 SEC. 16. Section 54954.2 of the Government Code, as amended line 28 by Section 92 of Chapter 131 of the Statutes of 2023, is amended line 29 to read:
line 30 54954.2. (a)  (1)  At least 72 hours before a re gular meeting, line 31 the legislative body of the local agency, or its designee, shall post line 32 an agenda that meets all of the following requirements:
line 33 (A)  The agenda shall contain a brief general description of each line 34 item of b usiness to be transacted or discussed at the meeting, line 35 including items to be discussed in closed session. A brief general line 36 description of an item generally need not exceed 20 words. line 37 (B)  The agenda shall specify the time and location of the regular line 38 meeting and shall be posted in a location that is freely accessible line 39 to members of the public and on the local agency’s internet website, line 40 if the local agency has one.
93 — 36 — SB 707

line 1 (C)  (i)  If requested, the agenda shall be made a vailable in line 2 appropriate alternati ve formats to persons with a disability , as line 3 required by Section 202 of the Americans with Disabilities Act of line 4 1990 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 12132), and the federal rules and regulations line 5 adopted in implementation thereof.
line 6 (ii)  The agenda shall include information re garding ho w, to line 7 whom, and when a request for disability-related modification or line 8 accommodation, including auxiliary aids or services, may be made line 9 by a person with a disability who requires a modification or line 10 accommodation in order to participate in the public meeting. line 11 (2)  For a meeting occurring on and after January 1, 2019, of a line 12 legislative body of a city, county, city and county, special district, line 13 school district, or political subdivision established by the state that line 14 has an internet website, the following provisions shall apply:
line 15 (A)  An online posting of an agenda shall be posted on the line 16 primary internet website home page of a city , county, city and line 17 county, special district, school district, or political subdi vision line 18 established by the state that is accessible through a prominent, line 19 direct link to the current agenda. The direct link to the agenda shall line 20 not be in a conte xtual menu; ho wever, a link in addition to the line 21 direct link to the agenda may be accessible through a conte xtual line 22 menu.
line 23 (B)  An online posting of an agenda, including, but not limited line 24 to, an agenda posted in an integrated agenda management platform, line 25 shall be posted in an open format that meets all of the follo wing line 26 requirements:
line 27 (i)  Retrievable, do wnloadable, inde xable, and electronically line 28 searchable by commonly used internet search applications. line 29 (ii)  Platform independent and machine readable. line 30 (iii)  Available to the public free of char ge and without an y line 31 restriction that w ould impede the reuse or redistrib ution of the line 32 agenda.
line 33 (C)  A legislative body of a city, county, city and county, special line 34 district, school district, or political subdivision established by the line 35 state that has an internet website and an inte grated agenda line 36 management platform shall not be required to comply with line 37 subparagraph (A) if all of the following are met:
line 38 (i)  A direct link to the integrated agenda management platform line 39 shall be posted on the primary internet website home page of a line 40 city, county, city and county , special district, school district, or 93 SB 707 — 37 —

line 1 political subdivision established by the state. The direct link to the line 2 integrated agenda management platform shall not be in a contextual line 3 menu. When a person clicks on the direct link to the inte grated line 4 agenda management platform, the direct link shall take the person line 5 directly to an internet website with the agendas of the le gislative line 6 body of a city , county, city and county , special district, school line 7 district, or political subdivision established by the state. line 8 (ii)  The integrated agenda management platform may contain line 9 the prior agendas of a le gislative body of a city, county, city and line 10 county, special district, school district, or political subdi vision line 11 established by the state for all meetings occurring on or after line 12 January 1, 2019.
line 13 (iii)  The current agenda of the legislative body of a city, county, line 14 city and county , special district, school district, or political line 15 subdivision established by the state shall be the first agenda line 16 available at the top of the integrated agenda management platform. line 17 (iv)  All agendas posted in the inte grated agenda management line 18 platform shall comply with the requirements in clauses (i), (ii), line 19 and (iii) of subparagraph (B).
line 20 (D)  The provisions of this paragraph shall not apply to a political line 21 subdivision of a local agency that was established by the legislative line 22 body of the city, county, city and county, special district, school line 23 district, or political subdivision established by the state. line 24 (E)  For purposes of this paragraph, both of the follo wing line 25 definitions apply:
line 26 (1)  “Integrated agenda management platform” means an internet line 27 website of a city, county, city and county, special district, school line 28 district, or political subdivision established by the state dedicated line 29 to pro viding the entirety of the agenda information for the line 30 legislative body of the city, county, city and county, special district, line 31 school district, or political subdivision established by the state to line 32 the public.
line 33 (2)  “Legislative body” means a legislative body that meets the line 34 definition of subdivision (a) of Section 54952. line 35 (3)  No action or discussion shall be undertaken on any item not line 36 appearing on the posted agenda, e xcept that members of a line 37 legislative body or its staff may briefly respond to statements made line 38 or questions posed by persons e xercising their public testimon y line 39 rights under Section 54954.3. In addition, on their o wn initiative line 40 or in response to questions posed by the public, a member of a 93 — 38 — SB 707

line 1 legislative body or its staf f may ask a question for clarification, line 2 make a brief announcement, or mak e a brief report on their o wn line 3 activities. Furthermore, a member of a le gislative body, or the line 4 body itself, subject to rules or procedures of the le gislative body, line 5 may pro vide a reference to staf f or other resources for f actual line 6 information, request staff to report back to the body at a subsequent line 7 meeting concerning an y matter, or tak e action to direct staf f to line 8 place a matter of business on a future agenda.
line 9 (b)  Notwithstanding subdivision (a), the le gislative body may line 10 take action on items of business not appearing on the posted agenda line 11 under any of the conditions stated below. Prior to discussing any line 12 item pursuant to this subdivision, the legislative body shall publicly line 13 identify the item.
line 14 (1)  Upon a determination by a majority v ote of the legislative line 15 body that an emer gency situation e xists, as defined in Section line 16 54956.5.
line 17 (2)  Upon a determination by a two-thirds vote of the members line 18 of the le gislative body present at the meeting, or , if less than line 19 two-thirds of the members are present, a unanimous vote of those line 20 members present, that there is a need to take immediate action and line 21 that the need for action came to the attention of the local agenc y line 22 subsequent to the agenda being posted as specified in subdivision line 23 (a).
line 24 (3)  The item was posted pursuant to subdivision (a) for a prior line 25 meeting of the le gislative body occurring not more than fiv e line 26 calendar days prior to the date action is tak en on the item, and at line 27 the prior meeting the item was continued to the meeting at which line 28 action is being taken.
line 29 (c)  This section is necessary to implement and reasonably within line 30 the scope of paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 3 of Article line 31 I of the California Constitution.
line 32 (d)  For purposes of subdi vision (a), the requirement that the line 33 agenda be posted on the local agenc y’s internet website, if the line 34 local agency has one, shall only apply to a le gislative body that line 35 meets either of the following standards:
line 36 (1)  A legislative body as that term is defined by subdivision (a) line 37 of Section 54952.
line 38 (2)  A legislative body as that term is defined by subdivision (b) line 39 of Section 54952, if the members of the le gislative body are line 40 compensated for their appearance, and if one or more of the 93 SB 707 — 39 —

line 1 members of the legislative body are also members of a legislative line 2 body as that term is defined by subdivision (a) of Section 54952. line 3 SEC. 17. Section 54954.3 of the Government Code is amended line 4 to read:
line 5 54954.3. (a)  (1)  Every agenda for re gular meetings shall line 6 provide an opportunity for members of the public to directly line 7 address the legislative body on any item of interest to the public, line 8 before or during the le gislative body’s consideration of the item, line 9 that is within the subject matter jurisdiction of the legislative body, line 10 provided that no action shall be tak en on any item not appearing line 11 on the agenda unless the action is otherwise authorized by line 12 subdivision (b) of Section 54954.2.
line 13 (2)  (A)  Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the agenda need not line 14 provide an opportunity for members of the public to address the line 15 legislative body on any item that has already been considered by line 16 a committee, composed exclusively of members of the legislative line 17 body, at a public meeting wherein all interested members of the line 18 public were afforded the opportunity to address the committee on line 19 the item, before or during the committee’ s consideration of the line 20 item.
line 21 (B)  Subparagraph (A) shall not apply if an y of the follo wing line 22 conditions are met:
line 23 (i)  The item has been substantially changed since the committee line 24 heard the item, as determined by the legislative body. line 25 (ii)  When considering the item, a quorum of the committee line 26 members did not participate from a singular physical location, that line 27 was clearly identified on the agenda, open to the public, and line 28 situated within the boundaries of the territory over which the local line 29 agency exercises jurisdiction.
line 30 (iii)  The committee has primary subject matter jurisdiction, as line 31 defined by the charter, an ordinance, a resolution, or an y formal line 32 action of the legislative body that created the subsidiary body, that line 33 focuses on elections, b udgets, police o versight, or privacy , line 34 removing from, or restricting access to, materials a vailable in line 35 public libraries. libraries, or taxes or related spending proposals. line 36 This clause shall not apply to an item if the local a gency has line 37 adopted a law applicable to the meeting of the committee at which line 38 the item that was considered prohibits the committee from placing line 39 a limit on the total amount of time for public comment on the item. 93 — 40 — SB 707

line 1 (3)  Every notice for a special meeting shall pro vide an line 2 opportunity for members of the public to directly address the line 3 legislative body concerning an y item that has been described in line 4 the notice for the meeting before or during consideration of that line 5 item.
line 6 (b)  (1)  The le gislative body of a local agenc y may adopt line 7 reasonable regulations to ensure that the intent of subdivision (a) line 8 is carried out, including, b ut not limited to, re gulations limiting line 9 the total amount of time allocated for public testimony on particular line 10 issues and for each individual speaker.
line 11 (2)  Notwithstanding paragraph (1), when the le gislative body line 12 of a local agenc y limits time for public comment, the le gislative line 13 body of a local agency shall provide at least twice the allotted time line 14 to a member of the public who utilizes a translator to ensure that line 15 non-English speak ers recei ve the same opportunity to directly line 16 address the legislative body of a local agency. line 17 (3)  Paragraph (2) shall not apply if the le gislative body of a line 18 local agenc y utilizes simultaneous translation equipment in a line 19 manner that allows the legislative body of a local agenc y to hear line 20 the translated public testimony simultaneously. line 21 (c)  The le gislative body of a local agenc y shall not prohibit line 22 public criticism of the policies, procedures, programs, or services line 23 of the agency, or of the acts or omissions of the le gislative body. line 24 Nothing in this subdivision shall confer any privilege or protection line 25 for expression beyond that otherwise provided by law. line 26 SEC. 18. Section 54956 of the Government Code is amended line 27 to read:
line 28 54956. (a)  (1)  A special meeting may be called at an y time line 29 by the presiding officer of the legislative body of a local agency, line 30 or by a majority of the members of the le gislative body , by line 31 delivering written notice to each member of the le gislative body line 32 and to each local ne wspaper of general circulation and radio or line 33 television station requesting notice in writing and posting a notice line 34 on the local agency’s internet website, if the local agency has one. line 35 The notice shall be deli vered personally or by an y other means line 36 and shall be recei ved at least 24 hours before the time of the line 37 meeting as specified in the notice. The call and notice shall specify line 38 the time and place of the special meeting and the b usiness to be line 39 transacted or discussed. No other business shall be considered at line 40 these meetings by the legislative body. The written notice may be 93 SB 707 — 41 —

line 1 dispensed with as to an y member who at or prior to the time the line 2 meeting convenes files with the clerk or secretary of the legislative line 3 body a written w aiver of notice. The w aiver may be gi ven by line 4 telephone or electronic mail. The written notice may also be line 5 dispensed with as to an y member who is actually present at the line 6 meeting at the time it convenes.
line 7 (2)  The call and notice shall be posted at least 24 hours prior to line 8 the special meeting in a location that is freely accessible to line 9 members of the public.
line 10 (b)  Notwithstanding any other law, a legislative body shall not line 11 call a special meeting regarding the salaries, salary schedules, or line 12 compensation paid in the form of fringe benefits, of the legislative line 13 body or of a local agency executive, as defined in subdivision (d) line 14 of Section 3511.1. However, this subdivision does not apply to a line 15 local agency calling a special meeting to discuss the local agency’s line 16 budget.
line 17 SEC. 19. Section 54956.5 of the Government Code is amended line 18 to read:
line 19 54956.5. (a)  For purposes of this section, “emer gency line 20 situation” means both of the following:
line 21 (1)  An emergency, which shall be defined as a work stoppage, line 22 crippling activity, or other acti vity that se verely impairs public line 23 health, safety, or both, as determined by a majority of the members line 24 of the legislative body.
line 25 (2)  A dire emer gency, which shall be defined as a crippling line 26 disaster, mass destruction, terrorist act, or threatened terrorist line 27 activity that poses peril so immediate and significant that requiring line 28 a legislative body to pro vide one-hour notice before holding an line 29 emergency meeting under this section may endanger the public line 30 health, safety, or both, as determined by a majority of the members line 31 of the legislative body.
line 32 (b)  (1)  Subject to paragraph (2), in the case of an emer gency line 33 situation involving matters upon which prompt action is necessary line 34 due to the disruption or threatened disruption of public f acilities, line 35 a le gislative body may hold an emer gency meeting without line 36 complying with either the 24-hour notice requirement or the line 37 24-hour posting requirement of Section 54956 or both of the notice line 38 and posting requirements.
line 39 (2)  Each local ne wspaper of general circulation and radio or line 40 television station that has requested notice of special meetings 93 — 42 — SB 707

line 1 pursuant to Section 54956 shall be notified by the presiding officer line 2 of the legislative body, or designee thereof, one hour prior to the line 3 emergency meeting, or, in the case of a dire emergency, at or near line 4 the time that the presiding officer or designee notifies the members line 5 of the legislative body of the emergency meeting. line 6 (A)  Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the notice required line 7 by this paragraph shall be gi ven by telephone and all telephone line 8 numbers provided in the most recent request of a ne wspaper or line 9 station for notification of special meetings shall be exhausted. In line 10 the event that telephone services are not functioning, the notice line 11 requirements of this paragraph shall be deemed w aived, and the line 12 legislative body, or designee of the le gislative body, shall notify line 13 those newspapers, radio stations, or television stations of the fact line 14 of the holding of the emer gency meeting, the purpose of the line 15 meeting, and an y action tak en at the meeting as soon after the line 16 meeting as possible.
line 17 (B)  For an emergency meeting held pursuant to this section, the line 18 presiding officer of the legislative body, or designee thereof, may line 19 send the notifications required by this paragraph by email instead line 20 of by telephone, as pro vided in subparagraph (A), to all local line 21 newspapers of general circulation, and radio or television stations, line 22 that ha ve requested those notifications by email, and all email line 23 addresses pro vided by representati ves of those ne wspapers or line 24 stations shall be exhausted. In the event that internet services and line 25 telephone services are not functioning, the notice requirements of line 26 this paragraph shall be deemed w aived, and the legislative body, line 27 or designee of the legislative body, shall notify those newspapers, line 28 radio stations, or tele vision stations of the f act of the holding of line 29 the emergency meeting, the purpose of the meeting, and any action line 30 taken at the meeting as soon after the meeting as possible. line 31 (c)  During a meeting held pursuant to this section, the legislative line 32 body may meet in closed session pursuant to Section 54957 if line 33 agreed to by a tw o-thirds vote of the members of the le gislative line 34 body present, or, if less than two-thirds of the members are present, line 35 by a unanimous vote of the members present.
line 36 (d)  All special meeting requirements, as prescribed in Section line 37 54956 shall be applicable to a meeting called pursuant to this line 38 section, with the exception of the 24-hour notice requirement. line 39 (e)  The minutes of a meeting called pursuant to this section, a line 40 list of persons who the presiding officer of the le gislative body, 93 SB 707 — 43 —

line 1 or designee of the legislative body, notified or attempted to notify, line 2 a copy of the rollcall v ote, and any actions taken at the meeting line 3 shall be posted for a minimum of 10 days in a public place as soon line 4 after the meeting as possible.
line 5 SEC. 20. Section 54957.6 of the Government Code is amended line 6 to read:
line 7 54957.6. (a)  Notwithstanding any other pro vision of la w, a line 8 legislative body of a local agenc y may hold closed sessions with line 9 the local agency’s designated representatives regarding the salaries, line 10 salary schedules, or compensation paid in the form of fringe line 11 benefits of its represented and unrepresented employees, and, for line 12 represented emplo yees, an y other matter within the statutorily line 13 provided scope of representation, subject to all of the follo wing line 14 conditions:
line 15 (1)  Prior to the closed session, the legislative body of the local line 16 agency shall hold an open and public session in which it identifies line 17 its designated representatives.
line 18 (2)  The closed session shall be for the purpose of reviewing its line 19 position and instructing the local agenc y’s designated line 20 representatives.
line 21 (3)  The closed session may tak e place prior to and during line 22 consultations and discussions with representati ves of emplo yee line 23 organizations and unrepresented employees.
line 24 (4)  Any closed session with the local agenc y’s designated line 25 representative re garding the salaries, salary schedules, or line 26 compensation paid in the form of fringe benefits may include line 27 discussion of an agency’s available funds and funding priorities, line 28 but only insofar as these discussions relate to providing instructions line 29 to the local agency’s designated representative. line 30 (5)  The closed session shall not include final action on the line 31 proposed compensation of one or more unrepresented employees. line 32 (6)  For the purposes enumerated in this section, a le gislative line 33 body of a local agency may also meet with a state conciliator who line 34 has intervened in the proceedings.
line 35 (b)  For the purposes of this section, the term “employee” shall line 36 include an officer or an independent contractor who functions as line 37 an officer or an employee, but shall not include any elected official, line 38 member of a legislative body, or other independent contractors. line 39 SEC. 21. Section 54957.9 of the Government Code is amended line 40 to read:
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line 1 54957.9. In the event that any meeting is willfully interrupted line 2 by a group or groups of persons so as to render the orderly conduct line 3 of the meeting unfeasible and order cannot be restored by the line 4 removal of individuals who are willfully interrupting the meeting, line 5 the members of the legislative body conducting the meeting may line 6 order the meeting room cleared and continue in session. Only line 7 matters appearing on the agenda may be considered in such a line 8 session. Representatives of the press or other news media, except line 9 those participating in the disturbance, shall be allo wed to attend line 10 any session held pursuant to this section. Nothing in this section line 11 shall prohibit the le gislative body from establishing a procedure line 12 for readmitting an indi vidual or indi viduals not responsible for line 13 willfully disturbing the orderly conduct of the meeting. line 14 SEC. 22. Section 54957.95 of the Government Code is amended line 15 to read:
line 16 54957.95. (a)  (1)  In addition to authority exercised pursuant line 17 to Sections 54954.3 and 54957.9, the presiding member of the line 18 legislative body conducting a meeting or their designee may line 19 remove, or cause the removal of, an individual for disrupting the line 20 meeting, including any teleconferenced meeting. line 21 (2)  Prior to remo ving an indi vidual, the presiding member or line 22 their designee shall w arn the indi vidual that their beha vior is line 23 disrupting the meeting and that their failure to cease their behavior line 24 may result in their remo val. The presiding member or their line 25 designee may then remove the individual if they do not promptly line 26 cease their disruptive behavior. This paragraph does not apply to line 27 any behavior described in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) of line 28 subdivision (b).
line 29 (b)  As used in this section:
line 30 (1)  “Disrupting” means engaging in behavior during a meeting line 31 of a legislative body that actually disrupts, disturbs, impedes, or line 32 renders infeasible the orderly conduct of the meeting and includes, line 33 but is not limited to, one of the following:
line 34 (A)  A failure to comply with reasonable and lawful regulations line 35 adopted by a legislative body pursuant to Section 54954.3 or any line 36 other law.
line 37 (B)  Engaging in behavior that constitutes use of force or a true line 38 threat of force.
line 39 (2)  “True threat of force” means a threat that has sufficient line 40 indicia of intent and seriousness, that a reasonable observer would 93 SB 707 — 45 —

line 1 perceive it to be an actual threat to use force by the person making line 2 the threat.
line 3 SEC. 23. Section 54957.96 is added to the Government Code, line 4 to read:
line 5 54957.96. (a)  The existing authority of a le gislative body or line 6 its presiding officer to remove or limit participation by individuals line 7 or groups of persons who engage in behavior that actually disrupts, line 8 disturbs, impedes, or renders infeasible the orderly conduct of the line 9 meeting, including existing limitations upon that authority , shall line 10 apply to members of the public participating in a meeting via a line 11 two-way telephonic service or a two-way audiovisual platform. line 12 (b)  For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:
line 13 (1)  “Two-way audiovisual platform” means an online platform line 14 that provides participants with the ability to participate in a meeting line 15 via both an interactive video conference and a two-way telephonic line 16 service. A two-way audio visual platform may be structur ed to line 17 disable the use of video for the public participants. line 18 (2)  “Two-way telephonic service” means a telephone service line 19 that does not require internet access and allows participants to dial line 20 a telephone number to listen and verbally participate. line 21 SEC. 24. The Legislature finds and declares that Section 4 of line 22 this act, which amends Section 54953 of, Section 5 of this act, line 23 which adds Section 54953.4 to, Sections 8 to 15, inclusive, of this line 24 act, which add Sections 54953.8 to 54953.8.7, respecti vely, to, line 25 Section 19 of this act, which amends Section 54956.5 of, Section line 26 22 of this act, which amends Section 54957.95 of, and Section 23 line 27 of this act, which adds Section 54957.96 to, the Government Code, line 28 impose a limitation on the public’s right of access to the meetings line 29 of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies line 30 within the meaning of Section 3 of Article I of the California line 31 Constitution. Pursuant to that constitutional pro vision, the line 32 Legislature makes the following findings to demonstrate the interest line 33 protected by this limitation and the need for protecting that interest:
line 34 (a)  This act is necessary to pro vide opportunities for public line 35 participation in meetings of specified public agencies and to line 36 promote the recruitment and retention of members of those line 37 agencies.
line 38 (b)  This act is necessary to ensure minimum standards for public line 39 participation and notice requirements allowing for greater public line 40 participation in meetings.
93 — 46 — SB 707

line 1 (c)  This act is necessary to modernize the Ralph M. Brown Act line 2 to reflect recent technological changes that can promote greater line 3 public access to local officials.
line 4 (d)  The e xclusively virtual nature of the California Online line 5 Community College presents unique barriers to the requirements line 6 for an in-person quorum, a ph ysical location for public line 7 participation, and certain accommodations. Participating students line 8 of the online community colle ge come from all across the state line 9 and necessitating tra vel for these requirements w ould pose a line 10 significant and exclusionary barrier.
line 11 SEC. 25. The Legislature finds and declares that Sections 1 line 12 and 2 of this act, which amend and repeal Section 54952.2, line 13 respectively, of, Section 3 of this act, which amends Section line 14 54952.7 of, Section 4 of this act, which amends Section 54953 of, line 15 Section 5 of this act, which adds Section 54953.4 to, Section 6 of line 16 this act, which amends Section 54953.5 of, Section 7 of this act, line 17 which amends Section 54953.7 of, Sections 8 to 15, inclusive, of line 18 this act, which add Sections 54953.8 to 54953.8.7, respecti vely, line 19 to, Section 16 of this act, which amends Section 54954.2 of, line 20 Section 17 of this act, which amends Section 54954.3 of, Section line 21 18 of this act, which amends Section 54956 of, Section 19 of this line 22 act, which amends Section 54956.5 of, Section 20 of this act, which line 23 amends Section 54957.6 of, Section 21 of this act, which amends line 24 Section 54957.9 of, Section 22 of this act, which amends Section line 25 54957.95 of, and Section 23 of this act, which adds Section line 26 54957.96 to, the Go vernment Code, further, within the meaning line 27 of paragraph (7) of subdivision (b) of Section 3 of Article I of the line 28 California Constitution, the purposes of that constitutional section line 29 as it relates to the right of public access to the meetings of local line 30 public bodies or the writings of local public officials and local line 31 agencies. Pursuant to paragraph (7) of subdivision (b) of Section line 32 3 of Article I of the California Constitution, the Legislature makes line 33 the following findings:
line 34 (a)  This act is necessary to pro vide opportunities for public line 35 participation in meetings of specified public agencies and to line 36 promote the recruitment and retention of members of those line 37 agencies.
line 38 (b)  This act is necessary to ensure minimum standards for public line 39 participation and notice requirements allowing for greater public line 40 participation in meetings.
93 SB 707 — 47 —

line 1 (c)  This act is necessary to modernize the Ralph M. Brown Act line 2 to reflect recent technological changes that can promote greater line 3 public access to local officials.
line 4 (d)  The e xclusively virtual nature of the California Online line 5 Community College presents unique barriers to the requirements line 6 for an in-person quorum, a ph ysical location for public line 7 participation, and certain accommodations. Participating students line 8 of the online community colle ge come from all across the state line 9 and necessitating tra vel for these requirements w ould pose a line 10 significant and exclusionary barrier.
line 11 SEC. 26. The Le gislature finds and declares that adequate line 12 public access to meetings is a matter of state wide concern and is line 13 not a municipal affair as that term is used in Section 5 of Article line 14 XI of the California Constitution. Therefore, this bill would apply line 15 to all cities, including charter cities.
line 16 SEC. 27. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to line 17 Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because line 18 the only costs that may be incurred by a local agenc y or school line 19 district under this act would result from a legislative mandate that line 20 is within the scope of paragraph (7) of subdivision (b) of Section line 21 3 of Article I of the California Constitution.

O
93 — 48 — SB 707