Open Government
As a lead author of San Francisco’s landmark “Sunshine Ordinance,” Leland Yee has fought for expanding the public’s access to their government. Yee spearheaded the creation of the Senate Select Committee on California’s Public Records and Open Meeting Laws to examine deficiencies in California’s transparency laws. For his work in this area, Yee has been awarded the Freedom of Information Award from the California Newspaper Publishers Association, the Champion of Journalism Education Award by the California Journalism Education Coalition, and the Beacon Award by the First Amendment Coalition.
When the San Francisco Chronicle reported that the UC Regents were approving exorbitant raises behind closed doors without public notice or scrutiny, Senator Yee introduced and passed SB 190, also known as the Higher Education Governance Accountability Act. Signed by the Governor in late 2007, the bill requires the UC Board of Regents to vote on executive compensation increases in open and public meetings.
Yee has also fought for greater protections for state whistle blowers who experience retaliation for reporting waste, fraud, and abuse. In 2007, Yee authored SB 1505 which would have extended whistle blower protections to former state employees who report wrongdoing after they leave public service. In 2010, Yee successfully passed SB 650 which overturned a damaging California Supreme Court decision that denied whistle blowers at UC the same protections as their counterparts at the CSU.
But perhaps the biggest unturned stone in state government remains public university “auxiliary organization”—non-profit entities controlled by university officials that provide government services like parking, housing, and scholarships. Although these entities look, feel, and smell like the university itself, due to a legal technicality, they are exempt from most state transparency laws which has resulted in various instances of cronyism and corruption at our public universities. Most recently, the CSU Stanislaus Foundation was able to hide the exorbitant speaking fee paid to former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.
For two years, Yee has championed a common-sense reform by requiring auxiliary organizations to adhere to the California Public Records Act. Both legislative efforts (SB 218 in 2009 and SB 330 in 2010) received strong bipartisan support and positive editorials from throughout the state. SB 330 is a few legislative steps away from reaching the Governor’s desk.
