Community Media Public Benefit Bill: H.575 and S.181: Vermont Senate Committee on Government Operations - Testimony of S.55 Update to Open Meeting Law

Description

Testimony of S.55 Update to Open Meeting Law at the Senate Committee on Government Operations.

On Wednesday, the Senate Government Operations Committee continued testimony and committee discussion on S.55. Legislative counsel, Tucker Anderson, gave a walk through of the most recent version of the bill (Draft 4.2) - this version allows advisory bodies to meet hybrid, in person, or fully online and requires state boards to hold hybrid meetings. It also allows the public to request physical or electronic access to a meeting in writing. The new version of the bill requires a working group to be appointed and report back by November 1, 2025 - this version removes the $500k for grants to towns since the proposed changes do not require towns to vastly change their current meeting structure. All changes are highlighted in yellow in the document linked below - also linked is the committee meeting, and materials presented. The committee plans to vote on the bill next week on Tuesday - LG is scheduled to testify.

S.55, Draft 4.2:
https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2024/WorkGroups/Senate%20Government%20Operations/Bills/S.55/Drafts,%20Amendments,%20and%20Legal%20Documents/S.55~Tucker%20Anderson~Draft%204.2,%20Strike%20All%20Amendment~2-21-2024.pdf