Texas 2013 - 83rd Regular

Texas House Bill HB1749 Compare Versions

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Old	New	Differences
1	1	83R15299 DDT-F
2	2	By: Perry, et al. H.B. No. 1749
3	3	Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1749:
4	4	By: Harper-Brown C.S.H.B. No. 1749
5	5
6	6
7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to the meeting of a governmental body held by
10	10	videoconference call.
11	11	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12	12	SECTION 1. Section 551.127, Government Code, is amended by
13	13	amending Subsections (c), (e), (f), and (h) and adding Subsection
14	14	(l) to read as follows:
15	15	(c) A meeting of a state governmental body or a governmental
16	16	body that extends into three or more counties may be held by
17	17	videoconference call only if the member [a majority of the quorum]
18	18	of the governmental body presiding over the meeting is physically
19	19	present at one location of the meeting that is open to the public
20	20	during the open portions of the meeting.
21	21	(e) The notice of a meeting to be held by videoconference
22	22	call must specify as a location of the meeting the location where a
23	23	quorum of the governmental body will be physically present and
24	24	specify the intent to have a quorum present at that location, except
25	25	that the notice of a meeting to be held by videoconference call
26	26	under Subsection (c) must specify as a location of the meeting the
27	27	[each] location where the member [a majority of the quorum] of the
28	28	governmental body presiding over the meeting will be physically
29	29	present and specify the intent to have the member [a majority of the
30	30	quorum] of the governmental body presiding over the meeting present
31	31	at that location. The location where the member of the governmental
32	32	body presiding over the meeting is physically present [In addition,
33	33	the notice of the meeting must specify as a location of the meeting
34	34	each other location where a member of the governmental body who will
35	35	participate in the meeting will be physically present during the
36	36	meeting. Each of the locations] shall be open to the public during
37	37	the open portions of the meeting.
38	38	(f) Each portion of a meeting held by videoconference call
39	39	that is required to be open to the public shall be visible and
40	40	audible to the public at the [each] location specified under
41	41	Subsection (e). If a problem occurs that causes a meeting to no
42	42	longer be visible and audible to the public at that location, the
43	43	meeting must be recessed until the problem is resolved. If the
44	44	problem is not resolved in six hours or less, the meeting must be
45	45	adjourned.
46	46	(h) The [Each] location specified under Subsection (e), and
47	47	each remote location from which a member of the governmental body
48	48	participates, shall have two-way communication with each other
49	49	location during the entire meeting. The face of each [Each]
50	50	participant in the videoconference call, while that participant is
51	51	speaking, shall be clearly visible, and the voice audible, to each
52	52	other participant and, during the open portion of the meeting, to
53	53	the members of the public in attendance at a location of the
54	54	meeting.
55	55	(l) In any meeting held by videoconference call, a member of
56	56	the public present at a location where a member of the governmental
57	57	body is participating in the meeting by videoconference call must
58	58	be provided the opportunity to participate in the meeting by means
59	59	of the videoconference call in the same manner as a member of the
60	60	public who is physically present at a meeting of the governmental
61	61	body that is not held by videoconference call.
62	62	SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.