California suspends part of open meetings law, cities vow to comply anyway

From CivSource:

Quietly last week, the California state legislature suspended parts of the Brown Act, the state’s open meetings and transparency law. The Brown Act governs activities of state and municipal meetings, including when to post agendas, and minutes of meetings involving the public’s business. When they agreed to the suspension, they noted that it was more of a cost-cutting measure as it is costly to post all this public information about the public’s business.

 
The action has since spawned a law suit and public statements from municipalities vowing to uphold all of the provisions of the Brown Act despite the cost. At the state level, lawmakers are searching for any way to find money as the state budget continues to hemorrhage money. They found $100 million by suspending a portion of the Brown Act that requires government agencies to post agendas 72 hours in advance and announce closed-session meetings.

See more: Several cities say they will continue to follow suspended state open-meeting rules