AB 143

Currently, under the open meetings law, with certain exceptions, meetings of

state and local governmental bodies must be preceded by public notice, must be held

in places that are reasonably accessible to the public, and must be open to the public

at all times. If a meeting is properly noticed, a governmental body may, by recorded

vote of a majority of the members present, convene in closed session for the purpose

of considering certain matters specified by law. The open meetings law provides that

the law does not apply to any partisan caucus of the senate or assembly, except as

provided by legislative rule.

This bill deletes the exception in the open meetings law that makes the law

inapplicable to a partisan caucus of the senate or assembly, except as provided by

legislative rule. Under the bill, no rule of the senate or assembly and no joint rule

of the legislature that exempts a partisan caucus of the senate or assembly from

compliance with the open meetings law is valid.