Researcher: TA Page 1 4/19/21
OLR Bill Analysis
sHB 6651
AN ACT RESPONDING TO ISSUES RELATED TO COVID -19 AND
GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION.
SUMMARY
This bill codifies parts of five different executive orders issued by
the governor during the COVID-19 pandemic related to government
administration.
The bill allows public agencies to hold meetings remotely through
conference call, videoconference, or other technology. It specifies that
public agency meetings held remotely in compliance with its
requirements satisfy the Freedom of Information Act’s (FOIA’s)
requirement that these meetings be open to the public. It makes
numerous conforming changes, including allowing public agencies to
go into executive session during a remote meeting for the same reasons
that they may do so for an in-person meeting (e.g., to discuss pending
litigation).
Additionally, the bill exempts appeals filed or pending with the
Freedom of Information Commission (FOIC) between the bill’s
effective date and December 31, 2021, from certain FOIA deadlines. It
also allows executive branch agency heads, within these same dates, to
modify or suspend any of their agency’s regulatory requirements as
they deem necessary to protect the public health and reduce COVID-
19’s spread (§ 7). (The latter provision codifies Executive Order 7QQ (§
6), which the governor issued on May 20, 2020, effective for the
duration of the declared public health and civil preparedness
emergencies.)
The bill requires officials administering certain district or town
meetings or elections to use their best efforts to conduct them
remotely. Generally, this applies to meetings or elections scheduled to 2021HB-06651-R000510-BA.DOCX
Researcher: TA Page 2 4/19/21
occur from July 1, 2021, through December 30, 2021, to appoint officials
to local or regional offices and boards.
The bill also allows notaries public and Superior Court
commissioners (collectively, “notaries”) to perform notarial acts
electronically until December 31, 2021. It requires notaries who do so
to (1) use an electronic device or process that allows a notary and a
remotely located individual to communicate with each other
simultaneously by sight and sound and (2) comply with specified
requirements.
Lastly, the bill makes technical changes.
EFFECTIVE DATE: Upon passage
§§ 1-5 — REMOTELY HELD MEETIN GS
Under current law, FOIA’s definition of “meeting” includes those
held by electronic equipment, but it does not explicitly authorize, or
establish procedures for, telephone or other remotely held meetings
(see BACKGROUND).
The bill explicitly allows remotely held meetings under FOIA,
subject to specified conditions. (In doing so, it codifies Executive Order
7B (§ 1), which the governor issued on March 14, 2020, effective for the
duration of the declared public health and civil preparedness
emergencies.)
The conditions are as follows:
1. The public must be able to view or listen to the meeting (other
than executive sessions) in real-time through telephone, video,
or other technology.
2. With the exception of an executive session, the meeting must be
recorded or transcribed, with the recording or transcript posted
on the agency’s website within seven days after the meeting and
made available in the agency’s office within a reasonable period
of time. (The bill does not specify a deadline for making the 2021HB-06651-R000510-BA.DOCX
Researcher: TA Page 3 4/19/21
recording or transcript available in the office.)
3. The meeting notice and agenda must be posted on the agency’s
website and include information about how the public can
access the meeting and what technology it will use.
4. Materials relevant to the agenda must be (a) submitted to the
agency at least 24 hours before the meeting and (b) posted on
the agency’s website for inspection before, during, and after the
meeting.
5. Exhibits submitted by the public must, to the extent feasible, be
(a) submitted to the agency at least 24 hours before the meeting
and (b) posted on the agency’s website for inspection before,
during, and after the meeting.
6. Meeting participants must state their name and title (if
applicable) each time before speaking.
The bill requires that agendas for remotely held meetings comply
with FOIA’s existing deadlines for making meeting agendas (e.g.,
posted at least 24 hours in advance of a regular meeting). Current law
requires public agencies, other than those of political subdivisions
(e.g., municipalities), to post meeting minutes on their website within
seven days after the meeting. The bill subjects public agencies of
political subdivisions to the online posting requirement for any
remotely held meetings.
Notices of a Special Meeting
The bill allows notices of a special meeting to be electronically sent
to a public agency’s members rather than delivered to their homes as
current law requires. Current law also allows members to waive
delivery of the notice by filing a written waiver with the agency’s clerk
or secretary. The bill allows members to submit these waivers
electronically. (A special meeting is one that is held to consider
business that (1) was unforeseen when scheduling regular meetings
and (2) should be addressed before the next regular meeting.) 2021HB-06651-R000510-BA.DOCX
Researcher: TA Page 4 4/19/21
Notices of Adjournment
The bill also allows public agencies, when a remote meeting is
adjourned because all members are absent, to post a notice of
adjournment in a conspicuous place on their websites. Current law
requires that this notice be posted on or near the door of the meeting’s
location.
§ 6 — FOIC DEADLINES
By law, a person alleging a FOIA violation generally must appeal to
FOIC within 30 days after being denied a right conferred by FOIA
(e.g., inspecting or copying public records or attending a public
agency’s meeting). FOIC must hear and decide the appeal within one
year after its filing date.
The bill establishes deadline exemptions for appeals filed or
pending on or after its effective date until December 31, 2021.
Specifically, it exempts (1) appeals filed within this timeframe from
both the filing deadline and FOIC’s adjudication deadline and (2)
appeals pending within this timeframe from FOIC’s adjudication
deadline.
(This section codifies Executive Order 7M (§ 2), which the governor
issued on March 25, 2020, effective for the duration of the declared
public health and civil preparedness emergencies.)
§ 8 — MEETINGS TO APPOINT LOCAL OR REGIONAL OF FICIALS
The bill requires officials administering certain district or town
meetings or elections to use their best efforts to conduct the meeting or
election remotely and implement measures to safeguard the integrity
of the process. It applies to municipalities where (1) a town meeting,
annual town meeting, district meeting, or election is the authority for
appointing or electing members or officials to any municipal or
regional governmental office, board, agency, commission, or quasi-
municipal corporation and (2) the appointments require that a district
or town meeting or election be held that is scheduled to occur from
July 1, 2021, through December 30, 2021. 2021HB-06651-R000510-BA.DOCX
Researcher: TA Page 5 4/19/21
Under the bill, if the officials determine that the meeting or election
cannot be conducted safely and accurately by remote means, then they
must take all reasonable measures to protect public health (e.g.,
conduct the meeting or election in a way that significantly reduces the
COVID-19 transmission risk).
(This section codifies Executive Order 7OO (§ 1), which the
governor issued on May 14, 2020, effective for the duration of the
declared public health and civil preparedness emergencies.)
§ 9 — REMOTE NOTARIZATION
Current law does not permit remote notarization in Connecticut. For
example, it defines “acknowledgement” as “a notarial act in which a
notary public certifies that a signatory…has admitted, in the notary’s
presence, to having signed a document for its stated purpose” (CGS §
3-94a(1)).
The bill instead allows remote notarizations until December 31,
2021, subject to the following requirements:
1. A signatory who is not personally known to the notary must
present satisfactory evidence of identification while
communicating with the notary and may not transmit it before
or after the transaction (evidence of identification includes two
specified forms of ID or an affirmation by a person known to
both the notary and signatory).
2. The electronic device or process must be capable of recording
the complete notarial act.
3. The notary must retain a recording of the complete notarial act
for at least 10 years.
4. The signatory must affirmatively represent that he or she is
physically present in Connecticut during the transaction.
5. The signatory must transmit to the notary, by fax or electronic
means, a copy of the signed document on the same date it was 2021HB-06651-R000510-BA.DOCX
Researcher: TA Page 6 4/19/21
executed.
6. The notary may notarize the transmitted copy and send it back
to the signatory by fax or electronic means.
7. The notary may repeat the notarization of the original signed
document as of its execution date as long as the notary receives
the original signed document, together with the electronically
notarized copy, within 30 days after the execution date.
Under the bill, only an attorney in good standing and admitted to
practice law in Connecticut may remotely administer a self-proving
affidavit to a last will or conduct a real estate closing. The bill suspends
all witness requirements for notarizations, except for those concerning
a last will. It allows witnessing requirements for a last will to be
satisfied remotely, using the communication technology described
above, if a Superior Court commissioner (generally, an attorney
admitted to the Connecticut bar and in good standing) supervises its
completion and certifies his or her supervision.
The bill requires town clerks to accept remotely notarized
documents for recording on their town’s land records. Remotely
notarized documents submitted to the clerks for this purpose must be
accompanied by a one-page certification confirming the use of remote
notarization.
(This section codifies Executive Order 7Q (§ 3), which the governor
issued on March 30, 2020, and subsequently extended for the duration
of the declared public health and civil preparedness emergencies.)
BACKGROUND
Related Bills
sSB 1074, reported favorably by the Government Administration
and Elections (GAE) Committee, is identical to this bill.
sSB 183 (File 441), reported favorably by the GAE Committee,
authorizes remote meetings under nearly identical conditions as those
in the bill. 2021HB-06651-R000510-BA.DOCX
Researcher: TA Page 7 4/19/21
sHB 6604 (File 311), reported favorably by the Commerce
Committee, allows remote notarization under similar conditions until
June 30, 2022.
sHB 6448, reported favorably by the Planning and Development
Committee, authorizes remote meetings under similar conditions as
those in the bill while also requiring public agencies to make their
meetings (including in-person meetings) accessible to the public
through electronic equipment.
HB 6641, reported favorably by the Planning and Development
Committee, authorizes remote meetings under similar conditions as
those in the bill.
Telephone Meetings Under FOIA
Although FOIA currently does not explicitly authorize telephone or
other remotely held meetings, its definition of “meeting” includes
those held by electronic equipment (CGS § 1-200(2)).
In its only advisory opinion on the subject, FOIC advised that public
agencies conducting business over the phone must comply with
FOIA’s open meeting requirements. According to FOIC, agencies must
make sure that the public has “access to the entire proceedings taking
place during the course of a meeting.”
Specifically, the commission advised that the meeting must comply
with at least the following:
1. members of the public who want to attend the meeting must be
accommodated at a place where the greatest number of
participating agency members are located;
2. people attending the meeting, including members of the public,
must be able to see and inspect copies of any physical or
demonstrable materials presented or used; and
3. all those attending the meeting, at whatever location, must be
able to hear and identify adequately all participants in the 2021HB-06651-R000510-BA.DOCX
Researcher: TA Page 8 4/19/21
proceedings, including individual remarks and votes (Advisory
Opinion 41, 1980).
COMMITTEE ACTION
Government Administration and Elections Committee
Joint Favorable
Yea 16 Nay 3 (03/31/2021)