HOUSE AND SENATE lawmakers this week plan to send Gov. Maura Healey a bill continuing to allow remote or hybrid access to public meetings in cities and towns across Massachusetts.
The remote access policy, a vestige of the pandemic era, allows members of the public to log on to Zoom, a phone conference line, or YouTube to participate in the meetings.
The policy was first established under an executive order from Gov. Charlie Baker as he and other state officials shut down large gatherings of people to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Gov. Maura Healey later signed a 2023 law that included a sunset date of March 31, 2025 for the policy.
A bill extending the policy through June 2027 received initial approvals in the House and the Senate on Monday. Additional procedural votes are planned on Thursday, with the aim of the bill landing on the governor’s desk by Friday.
Read more: The pandemic led to more access to local town meetings. Beacon Hill will decide what comes next
A coalition of open government advocates praised the move. “Without the ability to participate remotely, people across the Commonwealth would be shut out from important public conversations about government decisions that directly impact their lives,” said the group, which includes the ACLU of Massachusetts, Common Cause, Disability Law Center, the League of Women Voters of Massachusetts, and the New England Newspaper & Press Association, among others.
The coalition has pushed for making the policy permanent, but also a requirement. The current temporary policy gives city and town officials the flexibility to opt into providing a remote or hybrid option for public meetings.
Making the policy permanent, but allowing cities and towns to opt into remote or hybrid access, weakens the state’s Open Meeting Law because it makes the access too discretionary, according to the coalition. “The next step is to permanently guarantee hybrid access to open meetings so equitable access cannot be denied from town to town or meeting to meeting,” the coalition said in its statement. “We look forward to working with House and Senate leadership to get this done this session.”
But a group that represents cities and towns on Beacon Hill, the Massachusetts Municipal Association, opposes making it a requirement, arguing local officials, who in some cases deal with dozens of boards and commissions, should retain the flexibility in determining whether to provide remote access.
Healey filed legislation in January that included a provision that would allow hybrid and remote meetings, but not require them. The bill, backed by mayors and other local officials, also allows cities and towns to increase taxes on hotels and motels, and levy a new surcharge on motor vehicle excise bills.
One Beacon Hill leader indicated that a permanent version of the pandemic policy is under consideration, but did not indicate whether it would be an opt-in policy or a requirement.
“I have heard loud and clear from my colleagues, and the communities we represent, that hybrid meetings have increased access, engagement, and transparency in local government, and I look forward to the Senate passing this extension to June 2027 on Thursday, and then working in our chamber to enact a permanent hybrid meeting law,” Karen Spilka, the state Senate president, said in a statement Monday.
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