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 & Military Affairs committee took testimony on S.55 and proposed some changes to the bill. The committee heard from the League of Cities and Towns, the Deputy Secretary of State, Isle La Motte Selectboard Chair, and Vermont School Boards Association for feedback on how draft 2.1 would affect public meetings going forward. Some possible changes which came out of this testimony were allowing emergency meetings to be held fully remote, fully in person, or hybrid, removing the Secretary of State from the lead report requirement, and allowing fully remote meetings to continue for some time after the bill’s passage. The committee also heard from the Joint Fiscal Office which estimated the cost of outfitting a medium room (30 person occupancy or less) would be about $4,800 for most towns. The committee and legislative council is working on drafting a new version of the bill.

S.55 as introduced:
https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2024/Docs/BILLS/S-0055/S-0055%20As%20Introduced.pdf