California Earthquake Authority: closed meetings.

The Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act requires, with specified exceptions for authorized closed sessions, that all meetings of a state body be open and public and all persons be permitted to attend any meeting of a state body. Existing law establishes the California Earthquake Authority (CEA) , administered under the authority of the Insurance Commissioner and governed by a 3-member governing board, to transact insurance in this state as necessary to sell policies of basic residential earthquake insurance. Under existing law, the CEA's governing board is advised by an appointed advisory panel. This bill would provide, as an exception to the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act, that the CEA's governing board or advisory panel is authorized to hold closed sessions when addressing the development of rates, reinsurance, and strategy when discussion in open session concerning those matters would prejudice the position of the CEA. The bill would authorize the CEA's governing board or advisory panel, at any regular or special meeting, to meet in a closed session as described above upon a 23 vote of the members present at the meeting taken after first providing an opportunity for members of the public to be heard on the issue of the appropriateness of meeting in closed session. The bill would require, after a closed session is held as described above, the CEA's governing board or advisory panel to reconvene in open session prior to adjournment and report, among other things, that a closed session was held. If the duration of a closed session is longer than 2 hours, the bill would require the CEA's governing board or advisory panel to provide reasonable notice to the public, as specified, before reconvening in open session. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.