The legislative instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part of the
legislative instrument, were prepared by Matthew R. DeVille.
CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REP ORT DIGEST
SB 201 2023 Regular Session Hewitt
Keyword and summary of the bill as proposed by the Conference Committee
PUBLIC MEETINGS. Provides for meetings of boards and commissions via electronic means.
(8/1/23)
Report adopts House amendments to:
1. Make technical changes.
2. Provide for promulgation of rules pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act.
3. Define "meeting via electronic means" as a meeting at which one or more members of a
public body or members of the public participate via teleconference or video conference.
4. Define "teleconference" as a method of communication which enables persons in different
locations to participate in a meeting and to hear and otherwise communicate with each other.
5. Define "video conference" as a method of communication which enables persons in
different locations to participate in a meeting and to see, hear, and otherwise communicate
with each other.
6. Allow any public body which has powers, duties, or functions that are not limited to a
particular political subdivision or region and that conducts at least six regularly scheduled
meetings in a calendar year to conduct no more than one-third of its meetings via electronic
means; limits the number of successive meetings via electronic means to a reasonable
number.
7. Allow any public body that is strictly advisory or that primarily focuses on issues dealing
with disabilities or assisting military families to conduct successive meetings via electronic
means without limitation.
8. Allow committees and subcommittees of the Louisiana State Law Institute to conduct
periodic meetings via electronic means.
9. Prohibit the legislature, either house of the legislature, any committee of the legislature or
either house of the legislature, State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, Board of Regents, Board of Ethics, Ethics Adjudicatory Board, State Civil Service Commission,
board of directors of the Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, the board of
supervisors for the Louisiana State University System, University of Louisiana System,
Louisiana Community and Technical Colleges System, or the Southern University System,
or any parish board of election supervisors from conducting meetings via electronic means.
10. Require each public body that has the capacity to allow any member of the public with
a disability recognized by the Americans With Disabilities Act or a designated caregiver of
such a person to participate in its meetings held via teleconference or video conference and
adopt rules, regulations, and procedures to facilitate participation via teleconference or video
conference for any person who requests an accommodation prior to the meeting, except for
public bodies explicitly prevented from conducting meetings via electronic means.
11. Require each public body that does not have the capacity to allow any member of the
public with a disability recognized by the Americans With Disabilities Act or a designated
caregiver of such a person to participate in its meetings held via teleconference or video
conference to adopt rules, regulations, and procedures to facilitate viable alternative methods
for any person who requests an accommodation prior to the meeting, except for public bodies
explicitly prevented from conducting meetings via electronic means.
12. Require a public body eligible to meet via electronic means to publish a schedule of its
meetings indicating which upcoming meetings will be conducted via electronic means and
which will be conducted only in person to the extent practical.
13. Require a public body meeting via electronic means to provide a notice and agenda for
the meeting, post such notice and agenda on its website, and email such notice and agenda
to any member of the public or news media upon request.
14. Require a public body meeting via electronic means to provide detailed information
regarding how members of the public may participate in the meeting and submit comments
regarding matters on the agenda.
15. Require the presiding officer of a meeting of a public body conducted via electronic
means to be present and preside over the meeting at a physical anchor location that is open
to the public.
16. Allow for any member of the public or of a public body conducting a meeting via
electronic means to participate in such a meeting in person at the anchor location.
17. Require a public body meeting via electronic means to provide a mechanism to receive
public comment electronically in the manner it prescribes prior to, and to the extent practical,
during a meeting conducted via electronic means.
18. Require a public body meeting via electronic means to identify and acknowledge all
public comments, inclusive of those received in person during the meeting and those received in writing or electronically prior to any submission deadline for the meeting, and
maintain those comments in its record of the meeting.
19. Require the presiding officer of a meeting of a public body conducted via electronic
means to ensure that each person participating in the meeting is properly identified, that all
parts of the meeting, excluding any matter discussed in executive session, are clear and
audible to all participants in the meeting including the public, and that the voting decision
of each participating member of the public body is clearly identified during each vote during
the meeting and recorded and included in the archive of the meeting.
20. Require a public body meeting via electronic means to adjourn if it is unable to resolve
any technical problem that causes the meeting to longer be audible, or if applicable, visible
and audible to the public within one hour and to recess until the problem is resolved.
21. Require any meeting of a public body conducted via electronic means to be recorded and
made available to the public in an online archive located on the public body's website for at
least two years.
22. Require all documents made available to members of the public in attendance at the
anchor location to be made available electronically to members of the public participating
electronically to the extent practical.
23. Allow all members of a public body participating either in-person or electronically in a
meeting held via electronic means to be counted for the purposes of establishing and quorum
and to vote.
24. Prohibit any member of a public body who participates in a meeting conducted via
electronic means to be eligible for or receive a per diem for attendance at the meeting.
25. Prohibit any licensing or regulatory public body from conducting a disciplinary hearing
or adjudication via electronic means.
26. Require any public body which has powers, duties, or functions that are not limited to a
particular political subdivision or region that has a member with a disability recognized by
the Americans With Disabilities Act to adopt rules, regulations, and procedures to facilitate
that member participating and voting in a meeting via electronic means.
27. Provide for regular review of the policies and practices of public bodies conducting
meetings via electronic means by the legislative auditor and require the legislative auditor
to submit reports of its findings and any recommendations for legislation to the Senate
Committee on Senate and Governmental Affairs and the House Committee on House and
Governmental Affairs in intervals he deems appropriate. Report rejects House amendments which would have:
1. Defined "anchor location" as the physical location form which the meeting via electronic
means originates or the participants are connected.
2. Made provisions requiring accommodations to allow members of certain public bodies
with a disability recognized by the Americans With Disabilities Act to participate in meetings via
electronic means inapplicable to members of certain public bodies.
Report amends the bill to:
1. Define "anchor location" as the public location at which the public body holds in-person
meetings or is specifically equipped with the technology necessary to meet via electronic
means.
2. Prohibit members of the legislature or any parish board of election supervisors with a
disability recognized by the Americans With Disabilities Act from being eligible to vote and
participate in a meeting conducted via electronic means.
Digest of the bill as proposed by the Conference Committee
Present law authorizes the State Bond Commission, pharmacy benefit manager monitoring advisory
council, statewide advisory committees of the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners,
committees and subcommittees of the Law Institute, and the Louisiana Military Family Assistance
Board to conduct periodic meetings via electronic means outside of a gubernatorially declared state
of disaster or emergency provided certain present law requirements, including notice and agenda
publication and mechanisms for public participation, are met.
Present law further authorizes the Gaming Control Board to conduct emergency meetings via video
conference as determined to be necessary by the chairman.
Proposed law repeals present law, except for present law applicable to meetings via electronic means
of the committees and subcommittees of the Law Institute, and establishes comprehensive eligibility
requirements for a public body to hold a meeting via electronic means.
Proposed law defines "meeting via electronic means" as a meeting occurring via teleconference or
video conference.
Proposed law allows public bodies which have powers, duties, or functions that are not limited to
a particular political subdivision or region and that meet a minimum of six times per calendar year
to meet via electronic means, provided provisions of proposed law are met.
Proposed law prohibits the total number of meetings held via electronic means from exceeding one-
third of the public body's total yearly meetings. Proposed law allows public bodies that are strictly advisory or primarily focused on issues dealing
with disabilities or assisting military families to conduct any meeting via electronic means, provided
provisions of proposed law are met.
Proposed law requires meetings of public bodies conducted via electronic means to provide for
remote public participation by a member of the public with a disability recognized by the Americans
With Disabilities Act or their designated caregiver upon request.
Proposed law requires meetings held via electronic means to originate from a physical anchor
location.
Proposed law defines "anchor location" as the public location from which the public body holds in-
person meetings or is specifically equipped with the technology necessary to meet via electronic
means.
Proposed law requires all meetings held via electronic means to provide a mechanism for public
comment and remote participation.
Proposed law requires all meeting materials available to members of the public in attendance at the
anchor location to be made available online to members of the public participating remotely.
Proposed law requires meetings held via electronic means to be clearly visible and audible to
members of the public at all times except for during executive session.
Proposed law requires a meeting held via electronic means to recess if a problem occurs that causes
the meeting to no longer be visible or audible to the public until the problem is resolved. Further
requires the meeting to adjourn if the problem is not resolved in less than one hour.
Proposed law specifies that the legislature, either house of the legislature, any committee of the
legislature or either house of the legislature, Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, La.
Board of Ethics, Board of Regents, State Civil Service Commission, La. Citizens Property Insurance
Corp., State Board of Commerce and Industry, the boards of supervisors for the state's higher
education systems, and parish boards of election supervisors are prohibited from meeting via
electronic means.
Proposed law requires all public bodies that are generally ineligible to hold meetings via electronic
means to provide for a member of the body with a disability recognized by the Americans with
Disabilities Act to participate remotely via electronic means, except for meetings that require a
member to be physically present in order to be counted for a quorum and to participate and vote.
Proposed law prohibits members of the legislature or any parish board of election supervisors with
a disability recognized by the Americans With Disabilities Act from being eligible to vote and
participate in a meeting conducted via electronic means.
Proposed law requires review of the policies and procedures of public bodies who elect to meet via electronic means by the office of the legislative auditor to ensure compliance and identify problems.
Further requires the office of the legislative auditor to generate and issue a report on the findings
along with proposals for legislation to the Senate and House governmental affairs committees.
Effective August 1, 2023.
(Amends R.S. 42:17.2; adds R.S. 42:14(E) and 17.2.1; repeals R.S. 27:11(G)(2), R.S. 42:17.2 and
29, and R.S. 46:123(M))