By: Canales, Guerra, Fierro, Morales of Maverick H.B. No. 2683
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to remote and other meetings held under the open meetings
law.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 551, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 551.008 to read as follows:
Sec. 551.008. PUBLIC ACCESS TO CERTAIN MEETINGS. (a) This
section applies only to an open meeting of a governmental body at
which at least a majority of the members of the body participate by
a method other than by appearing in person at the meeting's physical
location, including by telephone conference call or video
conference call.
(b) The requirements prescribed by this section are in
addition to other requirements of law applicable to an open
meeting. Except as provided by this section, this section prevails
to the extent of a conflict with another provision of law.
(c) A governmental body shall ensure that members of the
public are able to listen to and, if applicable, speak at an open
meeting to which this section applies by telephone.
(d) A governmental body that holds an open meeting to which
this section applies shall:
(1) make the open meeting audible to the public by
telephone and at each location described by Subsection (e)(2);
(2) if the meeting is broadcast live over the Internet
or held wholly or partly by video conference call, provide public
access to both audiovisual and audio-only feeds of the open meeting
over the Internet or by using a free, widely available computer
application; and
(3) if applicable, allow members of the public to
address the governmental body as provided by Section 551.007:
(A) by telephone; and
(B) by video conference call if the meeting is
held wholly or partly by video conference call.
(e) The notice of an open meeting to which this section
applies must:
(1) comply with the requirements of this chapter;
(2) list each physical location where a member of the
public may observe and participate in the meeting, including:
(A) any location that is open to the public where
a member of the governmental body intends to participate in the
meeting; and
(B) any facility provided by the governmental
body for a member of the public to observe or speak at the meeting;
(3) include a toll free telephone number that members
of the public may use to hear and, if applicable, speak at the
meeting;
(4) include access information for any audiovisual or
audio-only feeds required by Subsection (d)(2); and
(5) include instructions for a member of the public to
speak at the meeting:
(A) from a remote location; or
(B) while physically present at a location
described by Subdivision (2).
(f) An open meeting to which this section applies shall be
recorded. Except as otherwise provided by law, the recording shall
be made available to the public not later than 24 hours after the
adjourning of the meeting.
SECTION 2. The heading to Section 551.023, Government Code,
is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 551.023. RECORDING OR LIVESTREAMING OF MEETING BY
PERSON IN ATTENDANCE.
SECTION 3. Section 551.023(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) A person in attendance at an open meeting of a
governmental body may:
(1) record all or any part of the [an open] meeting [of
a governmental body] by means of a recorder, video camera, or other
means of aural or visual reproduction; or
(2) stream live video and audio of all or any part of
the meeting on the Internet, provided that such recording does not
cause a distraction or disturbance to the proceedings of the
meeting.
SECTION 4. Subchapter B, Chapter 551, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 551.024 to read as follows:
Sec. 551.024. INTERNET BROADCAST AND ARCHIVE OF OPEN
MEETINGS. (a) This section applies only to a governmental body
that is an agency within the executive or legislative branch of
state government to which the total appropriation made in the
General Appropriations Act from general revenue for any fiscal year
beginning on or after September 1, 2021, including any amount of
general revenue transferred to the governmental body under that Act
for that fiscal year, is greater than $10 million and for which the
bill pattern for the General Appropriations Act for the same fiscal
year designates 100 or more full-time employees.
(b) A governmental body that becomes subject to this section
under Subsection (a) for a fiscal year shall comply with this
section in each following fiscal year.
(c) A governmental body subject to this section shall
broadcast over the Internet live video and audio of each open
meeting of the governmental body. The governmental body shall
provide access to the broadcast on the governmental body's Internet
website.
(d) Not later than the seventh day after the date an open
meeting is broadcast under this section, the governmental body
shall make available through the governmental body's Internet
website archived video and audio of the open meeting. The
governmental body shall maintain the archived video and audio of
the open meeting on the governmental body's Internet website until
the second anniversary of the date the archived video and audio was
first made available on the website.
(e) The governmental body shall provide on the governmental
body's Internet website the same notice of the open meeting that the
governmental body is required to post under Subchapter C. The
notice must be posted on the governmental body's Internet website
within the time required for posting notice under Subchapter C.
(f) The governmental body may use for an Internet broadcast
of an open meeting of the governmental body a room made available to
the governmental body on request in any state building, as defined
by Section 2165.301.
(g) The governmental body is exempt from the requirements of
this section to the extent a catastrophe, as defined by Section
551.0411, or a technical breakdown prevents the governmental body
from complying with this section. Following the catastrophe or
technical breakdown, the governmental body shall make all
reasonable efforts to make the required video and audio of the open
meeting available in a timely manner.
(h) The governmental body shall consider contracting
through competitive bidding with a private individual or entity to
broadcast and archive an open meeting subject to this section to
minimize the cost of complying with this section.
SECTION 5. Section 551.041, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 551.041. NOTICE OF MEETING REQUIRED. (a) A
governmental body shall give written notice of the date, hour,
place, and subject of each meeting held by the governmental body.
(b) The notice must include:
(1) an agenda of the specific subjects to be
considered in the open meeting so that the public is aware of the
subjects for public deliberation; and
(2) to the extent foreseeable at the time the notice is
posted, the subjects to be considered in a closed meeting.
(c) A governmental body may not conduct a closed meeting on
a subject not included in the notice as prescribed by Subsection
(b)(2) unless the body determines by official action during the
open meeting for which the notice was posted that the necessity of
considering the subject was not reasonably foreseeable at the time
the notice was posted.
SECTION 6. Sections 551.128(b) and (c), Government Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (b-1) and subject to
the requirements of this section, a governmental body may broadcast
an open meeting over the Internet. A governmental body shall
broadcast an open meeting over the Internet, or shall hold an open
meeting by telephone conference or videoconference, if the physical
location of the meeting is not accessible to members of the public
or is not large enough to accommodate all persons seeking to attend
the meeting in person, including if the location has reduced
capacity as the result of an emergency or urgent public necessity,
as described by Section 551.045(b).
(c) Except as provided by Subsection (b-2), a governmental
body that broadcasts a meeting over the Internet shall establish an
Internet site and provide free and open access for members of the
public to the broadcast from that site. The governmental body shall
provide on the Internet site the same notice of the meeting that the
governmental body is required to post under Subchapter C. The
notice on the Internet must be posted within the time required for
posting notice under Subchapter C.
SECTION 7. Section 551.024, Government Code, as added by
this Act, applies only to an open meeting held on or after September
1, 2023.
SECTION 8. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
a meeting of a governmental body held on or after the effective date
of this Act.
SECTION 9. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.