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HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 368 FILED ON: 1/8/2025
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3299
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_________________
PRESENTED BY:
Antonio F. D. Cabral
_________________
To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:
The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
An Act to modernize participation in public meetings.
_______________
PETITION OF:
NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Antonio F. D. Cabral13th Bristol1/8/2025Lindsay N. Sabadosa1st Hampshire1/30/2025Natalie M. Higgins4th Worcester1/30/2025Erika Uyterhoeven27th Middlesex1/30/2025David Paul Linsky5th Middlesex2/6/2025Patrick Joseph Kearney4th Plymouth2/6/2025Kristin E. Kassner2nd Essex2/6/2025Susannah M. Whipps2nd Franklin2/6/2025Patrick M. O'ConnorFirst Plymouth and Norfolk2/6/2025Christopher Richard Flanagan1st Barnstable2/6/2025Carmine Lawrence Gentile13th Middlesex2/12/2025William F. MacGregor10th Suffolk2/12/2025Michelle L. Badger1st Plymouth2/12/2025James C. Arena-DeRosa8th Middlesex2/12/2025Christopher Hendricks11th Bristol2/24/2025Marjorie C. Decker25th Middlesex2/24/2025Samantha Montaño15th Suffolk2/24/2025Patricia A. Duffy5th Hampden2/24/2025 2 of 2
Leigh Davis3rd Berkshire2/24/2025Tara T. Hong18th Middlesex2/24/2025Rodney M. Elliott16th Middlesex2/24/2025James Arciero2nd Middlesex2/24/2025Kevin G. Honan17th Suffolk2/26/2025Homar Gómez2nd Hampshire2/26/2025Bruce E. TarrFirst Essex and Middlesex3/3/2025John H. Rogers12th Norfolk3/3/2025Jennifer Balinsky Armini8th Essex3/3/2025Manny Cruz7th Essex3/5/2025Daniel M. Donahue16th Worcester3/5/2025Adrian C. Madaro1st Suffolk3/5/2025Adrianne Pusateri Ramos14th Essex3/7/2025Michael O. MooreSecond Worcester3/7/2025John Francis Moran9th Suffolk3/7/2025Bradley H. Jones, Jr.20th Middlesex3/11/2025Danillo A. Sena37th Middlesex3/11/2025 1 of 8
HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 368 FILED ON: 1/8/2025
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3299
By Representative Cabral of New Bedford, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 3299) of
Antonio F. D. Cabral and others relative to participation in public meetings. State
Administration and Regulatory Oversight.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_______________
In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
(2025-2026)
_______________
An Act to modernize participation in public meetings.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:
1 SECTION 1. Section 18 of chapter 30A of the General Laws, as appearing in 2022
2Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “meeting”, in line 9, the
3following word:- information.
4 SECTION 2. Section 18 of said chapter 30A, as so appearing, is hereby further amended
5by inserting at the end thereof the following:-
6 “Remote access,” access through the internet, video conferencing or other video
7technology that allows the public to view and, when permitted or required, participate in a
8meeting of a public body remotely from a location other than the meeting location.
9 “Remote participation,” participation by a member of a public body in a meeting of that
10public body through internet, video conferencing or other video technology remotely from a
11location other than the meeting location. 2 of 8
12 SECTION 3. Chapter 30A is hereby amended by striking out section 20 and inserting in
13place thereof the following section:
14 Section 20 (a) Except as provided in section 21, all meetings of a public body shall be
15physically open, and remotely accessible, to the public.
16 (b) Except in an emergency, in addition to any notice otherwise required by law, a public
17body shall post notice of every meeting at least 48 hours prior to the meeting, excluding
18Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays. In an emergency, a public body shall post notice as soon
19as reasonably possible prior to the meeting. Notice shall be printed in a legible, easily
20understandable format and shall contain the date, time and place of the meeting and a listing of
21topics that the chair reasonably anticipates will be discussed at the meeting.
22 (c) For meetings of a local public body, notice shall be filed with the municipal clerk and
23posted to the municipal website by the municipal clerk and may be posted in a manner
24conspicuously visible to the public at all hours in or on the municipal building in which the
25clerk’s office is located. For meetings of a regional or district public body, notice shall be filed
26and posted in each city or town within the region or district in the manner prescribed for local
27public bodies and notice shall be posted on the regional or district public body’s website. For
28meetings of a regional school district, the secretary of the regional school district committee shall
29be considered to be its clerk and shall file notice with the clerk of each city or town within the
30district and the clerk of such each city or town shall post the notice in the manner prescribed for
31local public bodies, and notice shall be posted on the regional school district’s website. For
32meetings of a county public body, notice shall be filed in the office of the county commissioners
33for the county and shall be posted on the county public body’s website, and notice may be posted 3 of 8
34in a manner conspicuously visible to the public at all hours in the places as the county
35commissioners shall designate for the purpose.
36 For meetings of a state public body, notice shall be filed with the attorney general by
37posting on a website under the procedures established for this purpose and a duplicate copy of
38the notice shall be filed with the regulations division in the state secretary’s office and notice
39shall be posted on the state public body’s website, or the website of its parent agency.
40 The chair of a public body may petition the attorney general for the use of an alternative
41method of notice where the use of a website is unduly burdensome or presents a hardship to the
42public body or regional school district. The attorney general may prescribe or approve alternative
43methods of notice where the attorney general determines that the use of a website is unduly
44burdensome or presents a hardship and the alternative methods will afford effective notice to the
45public.
46 (d) (1) All public bodies shall provide for remote access and remote participation at every
47meeting.
48 (2) Members of a public body participating physically or participating remotely in a
49meeting shall participate in the same manner for the duration of that meeting. A public body,
50other than a local commission on disability, shall have at least one-third of its members
51physically present at all meetings and members participating remotely may vote, count towards
52the quorum, and shall not be deemed absent for the purposes of section 23D of chapter 39. The
53chair of a local commission on disability or, in the chair’s absence, the person authorized to chair
54the meeting of a local commission on disability, shall be physically present at the meeting
55location. 4 of 8
56 (3) Members of a state public body participating physically or participating remotely in a
57meeting shall participate in the same manner for the duration of that meeting. A state public body
58shall have at least one of its members physically present at all meetings and members
59participating remotely may vote, count towards the quorum, and shall not be deemed absent for
60the purposes of section 23D of chapter 39. All meetings of a state public body shall be video
61recorded with access to the recording posted on the website of the public body within 10
62business days after the meeting.
63 (4) Remote access allowing the public to view or participate in the deliberations of a
64public body shall be available without any paid subscription, toll, or similar charge. All public
65bodies shall ensure remote access to meetings is accessible to persons with disabilities and
66provided in such a manner as to ensure equal opportunity to such persons. Public bodies shall
67include captioning, which may be provided through automatic speech recognition technology, or
68other reasonable accommodations if needed, consistent with the American Disabilities Act and
69chapter 151B to persons with disabilities remotely accessing the meeting.
70 (6) All public bodies shall ensure that remote participation by members is accessible to
71members with disabilities and provided in such a manner as to ensure equal opportunity to such
72members. Public bodies shall include captioning, which may be provided through automatic
73speech recognition technology, or other reasonable accommodations if needed, consistent with
74the American Disabilities Act and chapter 151B to persons with disabilities participating
75remotely.
76 (e) After notifying the chair of the public body, any person may make a video or audio
77recording of an open session of a meeting of a public body, or may transmit the meeting through 5 of 8
78any medium, subject to reasonable requirements of the chair as to the number, placement and
79operation of equipment used so as not to interfere with the conduct of the meeting. At the
80beginning of the meeting, the chair shall inform other attendees of any recordings.
81 (f) No person shall address a meeting of a public body without permission of the chair,
82and all persons shall, at the request of the chair, be silent. No person shall disrupt the proceedings
83of a meeting of a public body. If, after clear warning from the chair, a person continues to disrupt
84the proceedings, the chair may order the person to withdraw from the meeting and if the person
85does not withdraw, the chair may authorize a constable or other officer to remove the person
86from the meeting.
87 (g) Within 2 weeks of qualification for office, all persons serving on a public body shall
88certify, on a form prescribed by the attorney general, the receipt of a copy of the open meeting
89law, regulations promulgated under section 25 and a copy of the educational materials prepared
90by the attorney general explaining the open meeting law and its application under section 19.
91Unless otherwise directed or approved by the attorney general, the appointing authority, city or
92town clerk or the executive director or other appropriate administrator of a state or regional body,
93or their designees, shall obtain certification from each person upon entering service and shall
94retain it subject to the applicable records retention schedule where the body maintains its official
95records. The certification shall be evidence that the member of a public body has read and
96understands the requirements of the open meeting law and the consequences of violating it.
97 SECTION 4. Section 22 of chapter 30A of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby
98amended by striking subsection (a) and inserting in place thereof the following subsections:- 6 of 8
99 (a) A public body shall create and maintain accurate minutes of all meetings, including
100executive sessions, setting forth the date, time and place, the members present or absent, a
101summary of the discussions on each subject, a list of documents and other exhibits used at the
102meeting, the decisions made, and the actions taken at each meeting, including the record of all
103votes. Minutes of all meetings, including executive sessions, shall be created, and approved by
104the following meeting or within 30 days, whichever is later, unless the public body can show
105good cause for further delay.
106 SECTION 5. Section 22 of said chapter 30A, as so appearing, is hereby further amended
107by striking subsection (c) and inserting in place thereof the following:-
108 (c) The minutes of an open session, if they exist and whether approved or in draft form,
109shall be made available upon request to any person within 10 business days. A public body may,
110within 10 business days, refer the requester to the public body’s website where the requested
111minutes, whether approved or in draft form, may be found. Within 10 business days of approval,
112minutes of an open session shall be posted to the public body’s website.
113
114 SECTION 6. Said Section 22 of said chapter 30A, as so appearing, is hereby further
115amended by inserting after the word “meeting”, in line 60, the following words:-
116 Within 10 business days of a determination that continued non-disclosure of executive
117session minutes is no longer warranted, such executive session minutes shall be posted to the
118public body’s website. 7 of 8
119 SECTION 7. Said section 22 of said chapter 30A, as so appearing, is hereby further
120amended by inserting after the word “review”, in line 69, the following words:-
121 A public body may, within 10 business days, refer the requester to the public body’s
122website where the requested minutes may be found if all requested minutes have been released to
123the public.
124
125 SECTION 8. Section 23 of said chapter 30A, as so appearing, is hereby amended by
126inserting after the word “violation”, in line 34, the following words: or a civil penalty of not
127more than $200 against any member of a public body for a third or subsequent knowing
128violation. A civil penalty against an individual member of a public body shall not be
129reimbursable with public funds.
130 SECTION 9. Subsection (c) of said section 23 of said Chapter 30A, as so appearing, is
131hereby further amended by striking out the seventh clause and inserting in place thereof the
132following clauses:- (7) issue a private education letter to a member of a public body; (8)
133reprimand a member of a public body; provided, however, that no member of a public body shall
134be reprimanded unless the attorney general has issued a private education letter to said member
135within the past twelve months; or; (9) prescribe other appropriate action.
136 SECTION 10. Subsection (f) of said section 23 of said Chapter 30A, as so appearing, is
137hereby further amended by inserting at the end thereof the following paragraph:- 8 of 8
138 The remedy created hereby is not exclusive but shall be in addition to every other
139available remedy. In an action brought by 3 or more registered voters, such order of notice may
140also require the public body to reimburse said voters reasonable attorney’s fees and court costs.
141 SECTION 11. Sections 1 through 10 of this act shall take effect on April 1, 2025.