Business Meeting

AGENDA

Business Meeting
Thursday, March 5, 2015
Legislative Counsel Conference Room
925 L Street, Lower Level
Sacramento, CA

The Commission will consider agenda items I-V at approximately 12:30 p.m. The precise time will vary depending upon the testimony of witnesses and will be determined at the discretion of the chair. Members of the public will have an opportunity to make comments about Commission agenda items during the meeting.

1. Business Meeting Minutes from January 22, 2015
    
2. Draft Report - Underground Economy
    
3. Project Selection
    
4. Implementation
    
5. Reports from California State Auditor’s Office

PUBLIC NOTICE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 2, 2015

For Additional Information Contact:
Carole D’Elia, Executive Director
(916) 445-2125

Notice of Meeting
(Revised Witness List)

On Thursday, March 5, 2015, the Little Hoover Commission will conduct a public hearing on ex parte communications as part of the Commission’s review of California’s Open Meeting Acts. The hearing will begin at 9:30 a.m. in Room 437 of the State Capitol in Sacramento.

The Commission is reviewing transparency in state and local government, specifically the effects of amendments enacted in 2008 to the Brown Act and in 2009 to the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act on the ability of state boards and commissions to effectively conduct business. At this hearing, the Commission will examine the role of ex parte communications between interest groups and decision-makers during informal rulemaking.

The Commission will first hear from a partner with the Los Angeles-based law firm, Strumwasser & Woocher, LLP, who will report on his assignment from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to develop and propose new ex parte rules for the commission. The Commission will then hear from the senior counsel and senior policy advisor for the University of San Diego Center for Public Interest Law, who will testify with his perspective on California’s governing culture and landscape of ex parte communications in informal rulemaking and quasi-legislative proceedings. The Commission also will hear from a consultant to the Administrative Conference of the United States, who will outline ex parte policies used by federal agencies and discuss recommendations for ex parte communications. Finally, a partner with the San Francisco-based law firm, Goodin, MacBride, Squeri & Day, LLP, will offer collective commentary and recommendations related to ex parte communication rules as applicable to the CPUC.

There will be an opportunity for public comment at the end of the hearing. The Commission also encourages written comments. Immediately following the hearing, the Commission will hold a business meeting in the Legislative Counsel Conference Room in the lower level of 925 L Street in Sacramento. Additional teleconference locations accessible to the public during the meeting will be: 8 West Cedar Street, Boston, MA 02108.

All public notices for meetings are on the Commission’s website, www.lhc.ca.gov. If you need reasonable accommodation due to a disability, please contact Commission Executive Director Carole D’Elia at (916) 445-2125 or littlehoover@lhc.ca.gov by Thursday, February 26, 2015.