Lawmakers, advocates push for remote public meetings
Late last week, lawmakers voted to extend the expiration date for these remote meetings. A COVID-era bill allowing public bodies to hold hybrid and remote meetings was supposed to expire at the end of this month, but lawmakers decided last Thursday to keep that option in place until late June 2027.
Mass. Commission on the Status of Women gathers for State House Advocacy Day
The bill also lowers the number of people required for a quorum for a town meeting and allows remote participation in representative town meetings. State and town leaders say remote options remove barriers like childcare and scheduling, and it's now the norm to offer Zoom or Teams meetings in addition to in-person access.
Governor Healey offered an option to make remote access permanent in a municipal tax bill she filed in January, and a group of advocates released a statement saying they believe remote access should be mandatory.
According to the advocacy groups, '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.'
Groups include ACLU of Massachusetts, Boston Center for Independent Living, Common Cause Massachusetts, Disability Law Center, League of Women Voters of Massachusetts, and Massachusetts Newspaper Publishers Association.
These groups support a bill filed by a New Bedford Representative mandating remote access, but critics of the bills say that may not be a realistic expectation for the 10,000 board, committees, and commissions that this law would apply to.
A similar bill has been filed by Ludlow Senator Jake Oliveira, although this bill supports a non-mandatory remote access option.
WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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