Section 3599.76 - [Operative 7/1/2026] Initial meet and confer proposals; counterproposals(a)(1) All initial meet and confer proposals of recognized employee organizations shall be presented to the employer at a public meeting, and those proposals thereafter are a public record.(2) All initial meet and confer proposals or counterproposals of the employer shall be presented to the recognized employee organization at a public meeting, and those proposals or counterproposals thereafter are a public record.(b) Except in cases of emergency as provided in subdivision (d), meeting and conferring shall not take place on any proposal subject to subdivision (a) until not less than seven consecutive days have elapsed to enable the public to become informed, and to publicly express itself regarding the proposals, as well as regarding other possible subjects of meeting and conferring, and thereafter, the employer shall, in an open meeting, hear public comment on all matters related to the meet and confer proposals.(c) Forty-eight hours after any proposal that includes any substantive subject that has not first been presented in proposals for public reaction pursuant to this section is offered during any meeting and conferring session, the proposal and the position, if any, taken by the representatives of the employer are a public record.(d) Subdivision (b) does not apply when the employer determines that, due to an act of God, natural disaster, or other emergency or calamity affecting the state, and that is beyond the control of the employer or recognized employee organization, it must meet and confer and take action upon a proposal immediately and without sufficient time for the public to become informed and to publicly express itself. In those cases, the results of the meeting and conferring shall be made public as soon as reasonably possible.(e) This section does not affect the authority of each house of the Legislature and the committees thereof to hold closed meetings pursuant to paragraphs (3) and (4) of subdivision (c) of Section 7 of Article IV of the California Constitution and Article 2.2 (commencing with Section 9027) of Chapter 1.5 of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 2.Added by Stats 2023 ch 313 (AB 1),s 1, eff. 1/1/2024.