Illinois 2025-2026 Regular Session

Illinois House Bill HB0026 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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1	1	104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026 HB0026 Introduced , by Rep. Daniel Didech SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: 5 ILCS 120/7 Amends the Open Meetings Act. Provides that an open or closed meeting subject to the Act may be conducted by audio or video conference, without the physical presence of a quorum of the members, if the National Weather Service has determined that all or part of the jurisdiction of the public body is located within an area that is subject to a severe weather alert on the day of the meeting. Makes conforming changes. Makes other technical changes. LRB104 03132 BDA 13153 b A BILL FOR 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026 HB0026 Introduced , by Rep. Daniel Didech SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: 5 ILCS 120/7 5 ILCS 120/7 Amends the Open Meetings Act. Provides that an open or closed meeting subject to the Act may be conducted by audio or video conference, without the physical presence of a quorum of the members, if the National Weather Service has determined that all or part of the jurisdiction of the public body is located within an area that is subject to a severe weather alert on the day of the meeting. Makes conforming changes. Makes other technical changes. LRB104 03132 BDA 13153 b LRB104 03132 BDA 13153 b A BILL FOR
2	2	104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026 HB0026 Introduced , by Rep. Daniel Didech SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
3	3	5 ILCS 120/7 5 ILCS 120/7
4	4	5 ILCS 120/7
5	5	Amends the Open Meetings Act. Provides that an open or closed meeting subject to the Act may be conducted by audio or video conference, without the physical presence of a quorum of the members, if the National Weather Service has determined that all or part of the jurisdiction of the public body is located within an area that is subject to a severe weather alert on the day of the meeting. Makes conforming changes. Makes other technical changes.
6	6	LRB104 03132 BDA 13153 b LRB104 03132 BDA 13153 b
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8	8	A BILL FOR
9	9	HB0026LRB104 03132 BDA 13153 b HB0026 LRB104 03132 BDA 13153 b
10	10	HB0026 LRB104 03132 BDA 13153 b
11	11	1 AN ACT concerning government.
12	12	2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
13	13	3 represented in the General Assembly:
14	14	4 Section 5. The Open Meetings Act is amended by changing
15	15	5 Section 7 as follows:
16	16	6 (5 ILCS 120/7)
17	17	7 Sec. 7. Attendance by a means other than physical
18	18	8 presence.
19	19	9 (a) If a quorum of the members of the public body is
20	20	10 physically present as required by Section 2.01, a majority of
21	21	11 the public body may allow a member of that body to attend the
22	22	12 meeting by other means if the member is prevented from
23	23	13 physically attending because of: (i) personal illness or
24	24	14 disability; (ii) employment purposes or the business of the
25	25	15 public body; (iii) a family or other emergency; or (iv)
26	26	16 unexpected childcare obligations. "Other means" is by video or
27	27	17 audio conference.
28	28	18 (b) If a member wishes to attend a meeting by other means,
29	29	19 the member must notify the recording secretary or clerk of the
30	30	20 public body before the meeting unless advance notice is
31	31	21 impractical.
32	32	22 (c) A majority of the public body may allow a member to
33	33	23 attend a meeting by other means only in accordance with and to
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37	37	104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026 HB0026 Introduced , by Rep. Daniel Didech SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
38	38	5 ILCS 120/7 5 ILCS 120/7
39	39	5 ILCS 120/7
40	40	Amends the Open Meetings Act. Provides that an open or closed meeting subject to the Act may be conducted by audio or video conference, without the physical presence of a quorum of the members, if the National Weather Service has determined that all or part of the jurisdiction of the public body is located within an area that is subject to a severe weather alert on the day of the meeting. Makes conforming changes. Makes other technical changes.
41	41	LRB104 03132 BDA 13153 b LRB104 03132 BDA 13153 b
42	42	LRB104 03132 BDA 13153 b
43	43	A BILL FOR
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49	49	5 ILCS 120/7
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68	68	1 the extent allowed by rules adopted by the public body. The
69	69	2 rules must conform to the requirements and restrictions of
70	70	3 this Section, may further limit the extent to which attendance
71	71	4 by other means is allowed, and may provide for the giving of
72	72	5 additional notice to the public or further facilitate public
73	73	6 access to meetings.
74	74	7 (d) The limitations of this Section shall not apply to (i)
75	75	8 closed meetings of (A) public bodies with statewide
76	76	9 jurisdiction, (B) Illinois library systems with jurisdiction
77	77	10 over a specific geographic area of more than 4,500 square
78	78	11 miles, (C) municipal transit districts with jurisdiction over
79	79	12 a specific geographic area of more than 4,500 square miles, or
80	80	13 (D) local workforce innovation areas with jurisdiction over a
81	81	14 specific geographic area of more than 4,500 square miles or
82	82	15 (ii) open or closed meetings of State advisory boards or
83	83	16 bodies that do not have authority to make binding
84	84	17 recommendations or determinations or to take any other
85	85	18 substantive action. State advisory boards or bodies, public
86	86	19 bodies with statewide jurisdiction, Illinois library systems
87	87	20 with jurisdiction over a specific geographic area of more than
88	88	21 4,500 square miles, municipal transit districts with
89	89	22 jurisdiction over a specific geographic area of more than
90	90	23 4,500 square miles, and local workforce investment areas with
91	91	24 jurisdiction over a specific geographic area of more than
92	92	25 4,500 square miles, however, may permit members to attend
93	93	26 meetings by other means only in accordance with and to the
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104	104	1 extent allowed by specific procedural rules adopted by the
105	105	2 body. For the purposes of this Section, "local workforce
106	106	3 innovation area" means any local workforce innovation area or
107	107	4 areas designated by the Governor pursuant to the federal
108	108	5 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act or its reauthorizing
109	109	6 legislation.
110	110	7 (e) Subject to the requirements of Section 2.06 but
111	111	8 notwithstanding any other provision of law, an open or closed
112	112	9 meeting subject to this Act may be conducted by audio or video
113	113	10 conference, without the physical presence of a quorum of the
114	114	11 members, so long as the following conditions are met:
115	115	12 (1)(A) the Governor or the Director of the Illinois
116	116	13 Department of Public Health has issued a disaster
117	117	14 declaration related to public health concerns because of a
118	118	15 disaster as defined in Section 4 of the Illinois Emergency
119	119	16 Management Agency Act, and all or part of the jurisdiction
120	120	17 of the public body is covered by the disaster area; or
121	121	18 (B) the National Weather Service has determined that
122	122	19 all or part of the jurisdiction of the public body is
123	123	20 located within an area that is subject to a severe weather
124	124	21 alert on the day of the meeting;
125	125	22 (2) the head of the public body as defined in
126	126	23 subsection (e) of Section 2 of the Freedom of Information
127	127	24 Act determines that an in-person meeting or a meeting
128	128	25 conducted under this Act is not practical or prudent
129	129	26 because of a disaster or severe weather alert;
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140	140	1 (3) all members of the body participating in the
141	141	2 meeting, wherever their physical location, shall be
142	142	3 verified and can hear one another and can hear all
143	143	4 discussion and testimony;
144	144	5 (4) for open meetings, members of the public present
145	145	6 at the regular meeting location of the body can hear all
146	146	7 discussion and testimony and all votes of the members of
147	147	8 the body, unless attendance at the regular meeting
148	148	9 location is not feasible due to the disaster, including
149	149	10 the issued disaster declaration, in which case the public
150	150	11 body must make alternative arrangements and provide notice
151	151	12 pursuant to this Section of such alternative arrangements
152	152	13 in a manner to allow any interested member of the public
153	153	14 access to contemporaneously hear all discussion,
154	154	15 testimony, and roll call votes, such as by offering a
155	155	16 telephone number or a web-based link;
156	156	17 (5) at least one member of the body, chief legal
157	157	18 counsel, or chief administrative officer is physically
158	158	19 present at the regular meeting location, unless unfeasible
159	159	20 due to the disaster, including the issued disaster
160	160	21 declaration, or severe weather alert; and
161	161	22 (6) all votes are conducted by roll call, so each
162	162	23 member's vote on each issue can be identified and
163	163	24 recorded; .
164	164	25 (7) except Except in the event of a bona fide
165	165	26 emergency, 48 hours' notice is shall be given of a meeting
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176	176	1 to be held pursuant to this Section. Notice shall be given
177	177	2 to all members of the public body, shall be posted on the
178	178	3 website of the public body, and shall also be provided to
179	179	4 any news media who has requested notice of meetings
180	180	5 pursuant to subsection (a) of Section 2.02 of this Act. If
181	181	6 the public body declares a bona fide emergency:
182	182	7 (A) notice is Notice shall be given pursuant to
183	183	8 subsection (a) of Section 2.02 of this Act, and the
184	184	9 presiding officer states shall state the nature of the
185	185	10 emergency at the beginning of the meeting; and .
186	186	11 (B) the The public body complies must comply with
187	187	12 the verbatim recording requirements set forth in
188	188	13 Section 2.06 of this Act; .
189	189	14 (8) each Each member of the body participating in a
190	190	15 meeting by audio or video conference for a meeting held
191	191	16 pursuant to this Section is considered present at the
192	192	17 meeting for purposes of determining a quorum and
193	193	18 participating in all proceedings; .
194	194	19 (9) in In addition to the requirements for open
195	195	20 meetings under Section 2.06, public bodies holding open
196	196	21 meetings under this subsection (e) must also keep a
197	197	22 verbatim record of all their meetings in the form of an
198	198	23 audio or video recording. Verbatim records made under this
199	199	24 paragraph (9) shall be made available to the public under,
200	200	25 and are otherwise subject to, the provisions of Section
201	201	26 2.06; and .
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