when Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order suspending many of the provisions of Bagley-Keene Act. The emergency is over, but many of the commissions and boards want to make remote meetings a permanent part of state governance.People’s lives are greatly impacted by the decisions of these powerful governing bodies. It is not acceptable to have board members and commissioners shielded from in-person public comment, emotional testimony or protests.
SB 544, as amended, would require that half of a government body’s meetings must be in-person. Tough or controversial decisions will show up during the remote meetings, leaving the public outside looking in, speaking into a microphone without any assurance that anyone is listening. that died last year.