March 10, 2009

Transparency Needed in State Government

By John Parsons

Chair of the Board

The Redondo Beach Chamber is supporting a proposal to bring more transparency to how business in done in Sacramento. The proposal, ACA 8, introduced by Assembly Member Kevin Jeffries, would end back-room deals and make the legislative process more accessible to the average Californian.

The Chamber supports ACA 8 because it will allow the public to react to issues that impact them the most. Sometimes, legislative proposals will do one thing today and change minutes before they are voted on in Sacramento. ACA 8 would require the Legislature and their committees to post an agenda containing a description of each action item 72 hours in advance before action can be taken. The current process does allow for input from the public or interested organizations. However, there are several instances each year when I go to Sacramento to represent the interests of Redondo Beach businesses on an issue only to find out that that issue changes the moment I get back to town. Sometimes legislators themselves do not have the time to read the full context of a proposal before voting due to time constraints.

The legislature uses a process called “gut and amend” and is mainly used during the end of a legislative session and during budget negotiations in which the entire contents of a bill are deleted ("gut") and replaced with something new ("amend"). The new language of the proposal is usually completely different than the original intent of the bill. This is a practice that should not be allowed. Especially since a City Council, for example, are required to post public agendas. As a former Redondo Beach City Councilmember I could never imagine using this type of process to deceive the public. It’s wrong.

Please join with us as in supporting ACA 8 to bring transparency to Sacramento.