Senate Bill 331 wins our inaugural Newspeak award.
Newspeak, you may recall, is the language used to obscure the truth and limit freedom of thought by a totalitarian government in George Orwell’s novel “1984.”
SB 331, the deceptively titled Civic Reporting Openness in Negotiations Efficiency Act, isn’t the product of totalitarian government. It is, however, a cynical attempt to undermine transparency laws in several California communities.
Gov. Jerry Brown should veto this bill post haste.
SB 331, by state Sen. Tony Mendoza, D-Artesia, would punish cities, counties and other jurisdictions that elect to share information with taxpayers about labor negotiations with public employees.
For many public agencies, payroll is the largest expenditure. But collective bargaining usually is shrouded in secrecy, and the public seldom gets more than the legal minimum of 72 hours’ notice before a final vote on a new contract.
Some cities and counties are opening the process to more public scrutiny.
San Jose posts written offers and counteroffers online under a city policy adopted in 2008. Orange County and several other Southern California cities enacted Civic Openness in Negotiations, or COIN, laws mandating public disclosure of all offers and counteroffers, appointment of an outside negotiator and an independent financial analysis prior to a final vote on labor contracts.
All of those requirements are anathema to public employee unions.
Some government professionals contend that posting all offers and counteroffers can inhibit the bargaining process. With the consent of local elected officials, they can tailor rules to address such concerns while still opening the process to greater public scrutiny.
SB 331 is a stealth attack on such transparency.
It wouldn’t outlaw civic openness. Nothing so blatant. Instead, SB 331 would impose costly requirements and needless delays on public services - and apply those rules only to jurisdictions that lift the shroud of secrecy from labor negotiations.
SB331 would impose a 30-day review, mandate an independent audit report and establish added disclosure rules for any government contract worth more than $250,000. Such contracts already are subject to laws requiring advance publication of specifications and awards to the lowest bidder.
SB 331’s new requirements would be rescinded if the COIN ordinance was repealed.
If that doesn’t expose the true purpose of this bill, consider this assessment from a law firm that represents public employees, as quoted in the Sacramento Bee, “SB 331 would impose extraordinary burdens on agencies working to promote a better public understanding of labor costs.”
The legislators who put this bill on Brown’s desk should be ashamed.
Two of the five legislators representing Sonoma County - Assemblyman Marc Levine, D-San Rafael, and state Sen. Mike McGuire, D-Healdsburg, voted no. Good for them.
The other three - Assemblyman Bill Dodd, D-Napa; state Sen. Lois Wolk, D-Davis; and Assemblyman Jim Wood, D-Healdsburg - voted for SB 331. For that, they share our first Newspeak award. We hope it’s the only one.
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