The proponents of Proposition 54—the California Legislature Transparency Act, which passed with 65 percent voter approval last November±—have delivered a letter to Senate President pro Tem Kevin de Leon opposing SCR-38, his bill...
Read MoreCalifornians Aware has announced its opposition to Assembly Bill 1455 by Assemblymember Raul Bocanegra (D-San Fernando), which would exempt from public disclosure under the California Public Records Act all records of what a...
Read MoreThe passage of Proposition 54 and both what it changes and why are well described here—with all the “woulds” to now be read as “wills”. Although the measure deals with legislative rules and procedures that never capture most...
Read MoreAn interesting discussion about the future of the Freedom of Information Act under the Trump Administration began this morning on FOI-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU, the listserv for FOIA practitioners, journalists and other professionals....
Read MoreBy Richard Knee A group of open-government activists is working to get a CalAware-endorsed measure strengthening San Francisco’s Sunshine Ordinance onto a future citywide ballot. CalAware’s general counsel, Terry Francke,...
Read MoreThe Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has quietly abandoned the practice of secretly signing all members’ names to letters sent to the Legislature and/or Governor expressing support or opposition to particular legislation....
Read MoreUPDATE: THE CALIFORNIA NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION REPORTS: “After media pressure by the Sacramento Bee and Los Angeles Times, CalAware’s blog post, and our lobbying efforts in the Assembly today, Assemblywoman...
Read MoreA bill soon to be considered in a final hearing in the Assembly Appropriations Committee would mean that local agencies that have enacted COIN ordinances (to provide more transparency to its bargaining with employee unions)...
Read MoreFREE SPEECH: L.A. Supervisors’ Names Can’t Stop Bill Protecting Speech at Public Meetings Despite a last minute Chicken Little chorus signed personally by all Los Angeles County Supervisors, a bill backed by Californians Aware...
Read MoreGuest Report and Comment by Richard Knee San Francisco’s open-government laws are regarded by some as among the nation’s strongest. But some people in City Hall are doing their best to keep the city’s Sunshine Ordinance and the...
Read MoreThe California Green Party, in announcing its opposition to Proposition 42 on next week’s ballot, uses a very blinkered rationale that ignores what made the measure necessary and exaggerates its impact on local government...
Read MoreIn this era of demand for transparency of large, complex and powerful institutions, nothing a public agency does can serve that demand better, easier, quicker and more consistently than an information-rich, well designed...
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