Healey extends remote meeting flexibility for public bodies
Photo | Timothy Doyle
Worcester City Hall
Gov. Maura Healey moved Friday to extend COVID-era remote and hybrid meeting allowances for public bodies until mid-2027, avoiding their potential expiration next week.
The governor's office said Healey on Friday signed the bill (H 62) that lawmakers sent her last week to keep in place language granting public bodies flexibility to hold meetings virtually or in hybrid formats, as well as measures lowering the number of people necessary for a quorum at Town Meeting and allowing representative Town Meetings to be held with remote participation.
Those policies were set to expire March 31, but the new law pushes that sunset date until June 30, 2027.
Municipal officials, many of whom are gearing up for busy town meeting season, have urged the state to keep the status quo in place, arguing that they have boosted civic participation and made it easier for local governments to manage operations.
Government boards in Massachusetts were initially granted the ability to meet without a physical quorum of members present and without affording public access to the physical meeting locations under an order Gov. Charlie Baker announced on March 12, 2020 -- two days after Baker declared an emergency in Massachusetts and one day after the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic.
Look for Beacon Hill this session to discuss making the remote and hybrid meeting allowances permanent, with debate likely to revolve around whether public bodies should be required to make their meetings accessible remotely or whether remote access should remain an option.
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