Remote Meetings Extended Through March 31, 2023

Senate Bill S2985
July 15, 2022: A compromise has been reached in the State Senate, and the remote meeting extension has been enacted and sent to the Governor to be signed.  Remote meetings can continue to be held until the new deadline of March 31, 2023, following the regulations set forth in session law, Chapter 22 of the Acts of 2022. 

The Open Meeting Law regulations governing remote participation, 940 CMR 29.10, remain in effect, except where the Governor’s executive order specifically suspends certain requirements.  In particular, when any—or all—public body members participate in a meeting remotely, the following requirements apply:

• At the start of the meeting, the chair must announce the name of the member or members who are participating remotely; such information must also be recorded in the meeting minutes.
• All votes must be taken by roll call.
• Members of the public body must be clearly audible to each other and to members of the public at all times.
• When holding an executive session remotely, the public body must still take all required procedural steps for entering into executive session in open session. At the beginning of the executive session, each public body member participating remotely must state that no other person is present or able to hear the discussion at the remote location, unless the public body has approved the presence of that individual.
• Should the public body encounter technical problems while meeting remotely, the person chairing the meeting may decide how to address the technical difficulties, but is encouraged wherever possible to suspend discussion while reasonable efforts are made to correct any problem that interferes with a remote participant's ability to hear or be heard clearly. If technical difficulties result in a remote participant being disconnected from the meeting, that fact and the time at which the disconnection occurred must be noted in the meeting minutes.