House passes remote meetings bill with mandate provisions

The House today passed a bill that would extend temporary authorizations for remote local government meetings — which were set to expire on July 15 — through March 31, 2023.

The bill, however, would mandate that all meetings of public bodies provide remote access and enable remote participation.

In late May, the Senate included an outside section in its fiscal 2023 state budget bill providing a straightforward extension of remote meeting options through Dec. 15, 2023. Noting the urgency of the matter, the Senate Ways and Means Committee advanced this section as a separate bill on July 5, and the Senate quickly endorsed it.

The version of the bill released in the House today had additional language related to notaries and real estate transactions, and a shorter extension of the remote meeting authorizations. The House approved an amendment to permanently mandate remote access to all public meetings, excluding executive sessions, with a provision requiring remote participation by the public if public participation is allowed or required at the meeting. The remote mandates would go into effect on April 1, 2023.

Given that every city and town in the Commonwealth has dozens of councils, boards, and commissions, which hold numerous public meetings a year, the House bill would impact thousands of local public bodies.

The MMA is continuing to advocate for flexibility for municipalities, while explaining that a mandate would entail significant costs and logistical challenges for municipalities.