By: Garcia H.B. No. 4357
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the persons who must be physically present for certain
remote meetings under the open meetings law.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 551.127, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (c) and (e) and adding Subsection (e-1) to
read as follows:
(c) A meeting of a state governmental body or a governmental
body that extends into three or more counties may be held by
videoconference call only if the member of the governmental body
presiding over the meeting or the member's designee is physically
present at one location of the meeting that is open to the public
during the open portions of the meeting.
(e) The notice of a meeting to be held by videoconference
call must specify as a location of the meeting the location where a
quorum of the governmental body will be physically present and
specify the intent to have a quorum present at that location.
(e-1) Notwithstanding Subsection (e), [except that] the
notice of a meeting to be held by videoconference call under
Subsection (c) must specify as a location of the meeting the
location where the member of the governmental body presiding over
the meeting or the member's designee will be physically present and
specify the intent to have that person [the member of the
governmental body presiding over the meeting] present at that
location. The location [where the member of the governmental body
presiding over the meeting is physically present] shall be open to
the public during the open portions of the meeting.
SECTION 2. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
an open meeting held on or after the effective date of this Act. An
open meeting that is held before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law in effect on the date of the open meeting, and
the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.