California Lawmakers Debate Teleconference Versus In-Person Meetings for Student Governing Bodies

To skirt the Brown Act, which requires open meetings, an Assembly bill would allow community college boards to meet online.

The campus of Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, Calif., on Oct. 4, 2020. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

A California bill would alter California’s open meeting laws to allow student body associations of community colleges to host meetings via teleconference.

State Assembly Bill 1855, authored by Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula, would allow community college boards and student associations to use teleconferencing without meeting all of the requirements of the Ralph M. Brown Act, a 1953 law that guarantees the public’s right to attend and participate in meetings of local legislative bodies.