Voter Guide / California Bills

SB 707, explained

Open meetings: meeting and teleconference requirements.

Passed into law Chaptered · Author: Durazo

In plain English

Starting July 1, 2026, this bill would require certain local government bodies to let people join their public meetings from home using phone or video calls. These bodies would also need to encourage residents to participate and set up rules for what to do if the phone or internet service breaks during a meeting.

If this passes

What would actually change, according to the bill's official digest. No predictions, no opinions.

Eligible local government bodies must offer two-way phone or video access for all open public meetings (with some exceptions) from July 1, 2026 through January 1, 2030
These bodies must take actions to encourage residents to participate in public meetings
By July 1, 2026, each eligible body must approve a written policy about what happens if phone or internet service stops during a meeting
If certain types of service disruptions occur, the meeting must pause for at least one hour

Who's lobbying this bill

59 organizations reported lobbying activity mentioning this bill. California disclosures don't say which side an organization is on, only that they paid to influence it. Amounts shown are payments to lobbying firms where the filing discloses them.

Dublin, City Of

paid to lobbying firms, quarters naming this bill · 6 filings

$132K

Kingsburg, City Of

paid to lobbying firms, quarters naming this bill · 6 filings

$126K

Procter & Gamble

paid to lobbying firms, quarters naming this bill · 3 filings

$120K

What you do with this is up to you. BallotBase doesn't rate, rank, or endorse candidates or measures. Every number on this page comes from official disclosure filings, cited below.

Sources

Bill text and Legislative Counsel's Digest: California Legislative Information (leginfo).
Lobbying activity: quarterly lobbying disclosures (Forms 625/635) filed with the California Secretary of State (Cal-Access).

Explainer text is generated from the official source text above and reviewed for neutrality: it describes only what the text says, in conditional terms, with no evaluations or predictions. Spot an error? Tell us and we'll fix it.

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