Massachusetts 2023-2024 Regular Session

Massachusetts Senate Bill S2011 Compare Versions

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

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2	2	SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1247 FILED ON: 1/19/2023
3	3	SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2011
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	Anne M. Gobi
8	8	_________________
9	9	To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
10	10	Court assembled:
11	11	The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
12	12	An Act relative to remote access for public bodies and town meetings.
13	13	_______________
14	14	PETITION OF:
15	15	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :Anne M. GobiWorcester and HampshireJoanne M. ComerfordHampshire, Franklin and Worcester2/23/2023 1 of 8
16	16	SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1247 FILED ON: 1/19/2023
17	17	SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2011
18	18	By Ms. Gobi, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 2011) of Anne M. Gobi and Joanne
19	19	M. Comerford for legislation relative to remote access for public bodies and town meetings.
20	20	State Administration and Regulatory Oversight.
21	21	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
22	22	_______________
23	23	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
24	24	(2023-2024)
25	25	_______________
26	26	An Act relative to remote access for public bodies and town meetings.
27	27	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
28	28	of the same, as follows:
29	29	1 SECTION 1. Section 20 of Chapter 30A of the General Laws, as so appearing in the 2022
30	30	2Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out section 20, and inserting in place thereof the
31	31	3following section:
32	32	4 Section 20. (a) Except as provided in section 21, all meetings of a public body shall be
33	33	5open to the public.
34	34	6 (b) Except in an emergency, in addition to any notice otherwise required by law, a public
35	35	7body shall post notice of every meeting at least 48 hours prior to the meeting, excluding
36	36	8Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays. In an emergency, a public body shall post notice as soon
37	37	9as reasonably possible prior to the meeting. Notice shall be printed in a legible, easily
38	38	10understandable format and shall contain the date, time and place of the meeting and a listing of
39	39	11topics that the chair reasonably anticipates will be discussed at the meeting. 2 of 8
40	40	12 (c) For meetings of a local public body, notice shall be filed with the municipal clerk and
41	41	13posted in a manner conspicuously visible to the public at all hours in or on the municipal
42	42	14building in which the clerk's office is located and on the municipal website.
43	43	15 For meetings of a regional or district public body, notice shall be filed and posted in each
44	44	16city or town within the region or district in the manner prescribed for local public bodies. For
45	45	17meetings of a regional school district, the secretary of the regional school district committee shall
46	46	18be considered to be its clerk and shall file notice with the clerk of each city or town within the
47	47	19district and shall post the notice in the manner prescribed for local public bodies. For meetings of
48	48	20a county public body, notice shall be filed in the office of the county commissioners and a copy
49	49	21of the notice shall be publicly posted in a manner conspicuously visible to the public at all hours
50	50	22in the places as the county commissioners shall designate for the purpose.
51	51	23 For meetings of a state public body, notice shall be filed with the attorney general by
52	52	24posting on a website under the procedures established for this purpose and a duplicate copy of
53	53	25the notice shall be filed with the regulations division in the state secretary's office.
54	54	26 The attorney general may prescribe or approve alternative methods of notice where the
55	55	27attorney general determines the alternative methods will afford more effective notice to the
56	56	28public.
57	57	29 (d) Public bodies may allow remote meeting participation provided that all persons
58	58	30present at the meeting are clearly audible to each other. Remote members may vote and shall not
59	59	31be deemed absent for the purposes of section 23D of chapter 39. The public body shall ensure
60	60	32public access to the deliberations of the public body for interested members of the public through
61	61	33adequate, alternative means of public access. Where active, real-time participation by members 3 of 8
62	62	34of the public is a specific requirement of a general or special law, regulation or a local ordinance
63	63	35or by-law, pursuant to which the proceeding is conducted, any adequate, alternative means of
64	64	36public access pursuant to regulations established under section j shall provide for such
65	65	37participation and shall be sufficient to meet such participation requirement. A municipal public
66	66	38body that for reasons of economic hardship and despite best efforts is unable to provide
67	67	39adequate, alternative means of public access that will enable the public to follow the proceedings
68	68	40of the municipal public body as those activities are occurring in real-time may instead post on its
69	69	41municipal website a full and complete transcript, recording or other comprehensive records of
70	70	42the proceedings as soon as practicable upon conclusion of the proceedings. This paragraph shall
71	71	43not apply to proceedings that are conducted pursuant to a general or special law, regulation or a
72	72	44local ordinance or bylaw that requires allowance for active participation by members of the
73	73	45public. A public body shall offer its selected adequate, alternative means of public access to its
74	74	46proceedings without subscription, toll or similar charge to the public.
75	75	47 (e) Public bodies may allow hybrid meeting participation provided that all persons
76	76	48present at the meeting are clearly audible to each other.
77	77	49 (f) A public body may allow remote participation by all members in any meeting of the
78	78	50public body and a quorum of the body and the chair shall not be required to be physically present
79	79	51at a specified meeting location.
80	80	52 (g) A public body that elects to conduct its proceedings under this section shall ensure
81	81	53that any party entitled or required to appear before it shall be able to appear through remote
82	82	54means, as if the party were a member of the public body and participating remotely as provided
83	83	55in subsection 4 of 8
84	84	56 (h) No person shall address a meeting of a public body without permission of the chair,
85	85	57and all persons shall, at the request of the chair, be silent. No person shall disrupt the proceedings
86	86	58of a meeting of a public body. If, after clear warning from the chair, a person continues to disrupt
87	87	59the proceedings, the chair may order the person to withdraw from the meeting and if the person
88	88	60does not withdraw, the chair may authorize a constable or other officer to remove the person
89	89	61from the meeting.
90	90	62 (i) Within 2 weeks of qualification for office, all persons serving on a public body shall
91	91	63certify, on a form prescribed by the attorney general, the receipt of a copy of the open meeting
92	92	64law, regulations promulgated under section 25 and a copy of the educational materials prepared
93	93	65by the attorney general explaining the open meeting law and its application under section 19.
94	94	66Unless otherwise directed or approved by the attorney general, the appointing authority, city or
95	95	67town clerk or the executive director or other appropriate administrator of a state or regional body,
96	96	68or their designees, shall obtain certification from each person upon entering service and shall
97	97	69retain it subject to the applicable records retention schedule where the body maintains its official
98	98	70records. The certification shall be evidence that the member of a public body has read and
99	99	71understands the requirements of the open meeting law and the consequences of violating it.
100	100	72 (j) The attorney general shall develop and adopt standards and guidelines for remote or
101	101	73hybrid participation of public bodies.
102	102	74 SECTION 2. Said chapter 30A of the General Laws is hereby further amended by
103	103	75inserting after section 20 the following section:
104	104	76 Section 20 ½ . (a) Notwithstanding any general or special law, charter provision,
105	105	77ordinance or by-law to the contrary, the moderator in a town having a representative or open 5 of 8
106	106	78town meeting form of government may request that the select board or board of selectmen of the
107	107	79town call for a representative or open town meeting to be held through remote or hybrid
108	108	80participation, including, but not limited to, by means of a video or telephone conferencing
109	109	81platform. Such a request by the moderator to the select board or board of selectmen shall be in
110	110	82writing and shall include, but shall not be limited to: (i) the moderator’s determination and
111	111	83request to hold a town meeting through remote participation in accordance with this section; (ii)
112	112	84the video or telephone conferencing platform the moderator has determined to use to hold the
113	113	85town meeting; (iii) confirmation that the moderator has consulted with the local disability
114	114	86commission or coordinator for federal Americans with Disabilities Act compliance; and (iv) a
115	115	87certification by the moderator that: (A) the moderator has tested the video or telephone
116	116	88conferencing platform; and (B) the platform satisfactorily enables the town meeting to be
117	117	89conducted in substantially the same manner as if the meeting occurred in person at a physical
118	118	90location and in accordance with the operational and functional requirements set forth in this
119	119	91section.
120	120	92 A video or telephone conference platform used by a town meeting for remote or hybrid
121	121	93participation under this section shall, at minimum, provide for the ability for: (i) the moderator,
122	122	94town meeting members, town officials and any other interested members of the public to identify
123	123	95and hear the moderator and each town meeting member who attends and participates in the
124	124	96remotely-held town meeting, as well as any other individuals who participate in the remotely-
125	125	97held town meeting; (ii) the ability to determine whether a quorum is present; (iii) a town meeting
126	126	98member, town official or other individual to request recognition by the moderator without prior
127	127	99authorization; provided, however, that to the extent technologically feasible, the request is visible
128	128	100or audible to the public in real time and upon review of the recording of the town meeting 6 of 8
129	129	101proceedings, preserved according to subsection (h); (iv) the moderator to determine when a town
130	130	102meeting member wishes to be recognized to speak, make a motion, raise a point of order or
131	131	103object to a request for unanimous consent; (v) the moderator to recognize a town meeting
132	132	104member, town official or other individual to speak and to enable that person to speak; (vi) the
133	133	105ability to conduct a roll call vote; (vii) any interested members of the public to access the
134	134	106meeting remotely for purposes of witnessing the deliberations and actions taken at the town
135	135	107meeting; and (viii) the town meeting to be recorded. Registered voters residing in the town
136	136	108wishing to participate in a remote town meeting conducted pursuant to this section shall submit a
137	137	109request to participate to the town clerk not less than 48 hours in advance of the town meeting.
138	138	110Upon receipt of the request and verification of the requester’s voter registration status, the clerk
139	139	111shall provide to the requester instructions for participating in the remote town meeting.
140	140	112 (b) Not later than 10 business days following receipt of a written request by the
141	141	113moderator for remote or hybrid participation at a town meeting pursuant to subsection (a), the
142	142	114select board or board of selectmen shall vote to determine if the town meeting shall be held
143	143	115remotely by means of the video or telephone conferencing platform requested by the moderator.
144	144	116 (c) If the select board or board of selectmen votes to approve the request of the
145	145	117moderator for remote or hybrid participation at a town meeting the select board shall issue, a
146	146	118notice that expressly states: (i) that the town meeting shall be held remotely by means of the
147	147	119video or telephone conferencing platform requested by the moderator; (ii) the date and time of
148	148	120the meeting; and (iii) any information necessary for the moderator, town meeting members, town
149	149	121officials and interested members of the public to access and witness the deliberations and actions
150	150	122taken at the town meeting remotely. 7 of 8
151	151	123 The notice issued by the select board or board of selectmen shall be: (i) accompanied by
152	152	124the written request of the moderator submitted to the select board or board of selectmen under
153	153	125subsection (a); (ii) filed and posted in accordance with the requirements of subsection (b) of
154	154	126section 10A of chapter 39 of the General Laws; (iii) publicly posted not less than 10 days before
155	155	127the scheduled date of the remote town meeting. The notice may include a date, time and place for
156	156	128the town meeting to be resumed if the town meeting does not vote to continue the town meeting
157	157	129remotely pursuant to subsection (f).
158	158	130 (d) If the select board or board of selectmen votes to approve the request of the
159	159	131moderator for remote or hybrid participation at a town meeting and the select board or board of
160	160	132selectmen has not yet issued a warrant for a town meeting, the select board or board of selectmen
161	161	133shall approve and issue a warrant pursuant to section 10 of said chapter 39 for the town meeting
162	162	134that expressly states: (i) that the town meeting shall be held remotely or hybrid by means of the
163	163	135video or telephone conferencing platform requested by the moderator; (ii) the date and time of
164	164	136the meeting; and (iii) any information necessary for access and witness the deliberations and
165	165	137actions taken at the town meeting remotely.
166	166	138 The warrant issued by the select board or board of selectmen shall be: (i) accompanied by
167	167	139the written request of the moderator submitted to the select board or board of selectmen under
168	168	140subsection (a); and (ii) filed in accordance with said section 10 of said chapter 39, all other
169	169	141applicable laws and any relevant provisions of the town charter or by-laws. The warrant may
170	170	142include a date, time and place for the town meeting to be resumed if the town meeting does not
171	171	143vote to continue the town meeting remotely pursuant to subsection (f). 8 of 8
172	172	144 (e) Not later than 5 business days after a vote of the select board or board of selectmen to
173	173	145approve the request of the moderator to hold a town meeting remotely or hybrid pursuant to
174	174	146subsection (c) or (d), the town clerk shall submit certified copies of the vote of the select board
175	175	147or board of selectmen and the written request of the moderator to the attorney general.
176	176	148 (f) Any roll call vote taken at a representative or open town meeting held through remote
177	177	149or hybrid participation pursuant to this section shall be taken by any means that the moderator
178	178	150determines accurately and securely records the votes of those entitled to vote at the meeting,
179	179	151including, but not limited to, roll call vote, electronic voting, voting by ballot, voting by phone or
180	180	152any combination thereof. The vote of each voting member on a roll call vote shall be recorded
181	181	153and kept with the minutes of the town meeting.
182	182	154 (g) A representative or open town meeting held remotely or hybrid pursuant to this
183	183	155section shall be recorded and the recording shall be preserved and made publicly available on the
184	184	156town’s website for not less than 90 days after the conclusion of the remote or hybrid town
185	185	157meeting.
186	186	158 (h) All actions taken during a remote or hybrid town meeting held pursuant to this
187	187	159section are hereby ratified, validated and confirmed to the same extent as if the town meeting had
188	188	160been conducted in person and such actions are in accordance with all other applicable laws,
189	189	161charter provisions, ordinances and by-laws.
190	190	162 (j) The attorney general shall develop and adopt standards and guidelines for remote or
191	191	163hybrid participation of town meetings.