The 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 Californians’ attention, the result will be more than inside baseball. Not only will what lawmakers, lobbyists and citizens say and do in committee testimony be officially recorded, soon uploaded to the Internet and made available to the public in digital form for as long as 20 years, but anyone in a committee hearing audience will now be free to use their own cameras, smartphones or audio recorders to document whatever they can see or hear—and do what they please with what they record.
As for the part of the new policy most frustrating to the legislative majority, the practice of making last minute changes to bills—either adding new content never heard in committee or radically “gutting and amending” them into altogether unrelated legislation shortly before a final vote in the Assembly or Senate—will be at an end.
The few vocal opponents to Proposition 54 complained that without the ability to use these expediting maneuvers, certain controversial legislation of clear interest to the public, left in the record for 72 hours before a house vote, could be derailed by overwhelming special interest lobbying opposition. They never explained why lawmakers could not have the spine to resist such pressure, or if not, at least the conflict-averse option of being out of touch for a few days.
