Senate Local Government Committee concurs in Assembly amendments to SB 11 87 after committee hearing

The Senate Local Government Committee met in Room 112 of the Capitol to consider Assembly amendments to SB 11 87 and voted to concur in those amendments. The motion to concur was made by Senator Laird and carried on a roll call of recorded ayes.

At the hearing the chair described the bill in the context of earlier legislation to modernize the Ralph Brown Act and said the recently amended SB 11 87 "removes the language access provisions, adds findings, and adds an urgency clause," a change the chair said was made in response to concerns from language access advocates. The chair also said the amendments aim to "alleviate cost constraints for local governments" while acknowledging the committee had extensive stakeholder conversations.

Supporters at the hearing argued the amended bill keeps local discretion in how to provide language access. Eric Loyer, senior legislative advocate with the California State Association of Counties, testified in strong support and said SB 11 87 "is a direct response to concerns raised by language-access advocates removing prescriptive standards, mandates, formulas, and other directive language for local agencies." He added that nothing in the bill "prohibits local agencies from improving language accessibility at public meetings."

The committee took formal action on the motion to concur in Assembly amendments and the clerk recorded ayes from members present. The chair closed by inviting anyone unable to testify in person to submit written comments to the Senate Local Government Committee for inclusion in the official hearing record.

The committee adjourned after completing the agenda.