AB 2002

AB 2002 was introduced by Assemblymembers Toni Atkins, Mark Stone and Marc Levine immediately after the Commission fired former Executive Director Charles Lester. The bill requires any agent that lobbies the Commission to register as a lobbyist with the Fair Political Practices Commission. Technical experts, like geologists and planners, would not come under the purview of this legislation. The bill also requires that in the seven days prior to a public hearing on a specific matter, a Commissioner must report any ex parte communication within 24 hours, and no ex parte communications may occur in the 24 hours immediately preceding a public hearing.

This bill aims to increase transparency around Commission lobbying. Since the firing of Dr. Charles Lester without any articulated justification, distrust of Commissioners has skyrocketed and the media has focused attention on the role of lobbyists in influencing Commission decisionmaking.