Bill Text: HI SB2636 | 2024 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating To Remote Meetings.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-02-16 - Report adopted; Passed Second Reading and referred to JDC. [SB2636 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2024-SB2636-Introduced.html
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THE SENATE |
S.B. NO. |
2636 |
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THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2024 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
relating to remote meetings.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. Section 92-3.7, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"§92-3.7 Remote
meeting by interactive conference technology; notice; quorum. (a) A
board may hold a remote meeting by interactive conference technology; provided
that the interactive conference technology used by the board allows audiovisual
interaction among all members of the board participating in the meeting and all
members of the public attending the meeting, except as otherwise provided under
this section; provided further that there is at least one meeting
location that is open to the public and has an audiovisual connection. A board holding a remote meeting pursuant to
this section shall not be required to allow members of the public to join board
members in person at nonpublic locations where board members are physically
present or to identify those locations in the notice required by section 92-7;
provided that at the meeting, each board member shall state the name of any
person eighteen years of age or older who is present at the nonpublic location
with the member; provided further that the name of a person under the age of
eighteen years shall be stated if the person has a personal business, property,
or financial interest on any issue before the board at the meeting. The notice required by section 92-7 shall:
(1) List at least one meeting location that is open to the public that shall have an audiovisual connection; and
(2) Inform members of the public how to
contemporaneously:
(A) Remotely view the video and audio of the meeting through internet streaming or other means; and
(B) Provide remote oral testimony in a manner that
allows board members and other meeting participants to hear and, at the
testifier's option, view the testimony[, whether through an internet
link, a telephone conference, or other means].
The board may provide additional locations open for public participation. The notice required by section 92-7 shall list any additional locations open for public participation and specify, in the event an additional location loses its audiovisual connection to the remote meeting, whether the meeting will continue without that location or will be automatically recessed to restore communication as provided in subsection (c).
(b) For a remote meeting held by interactive
conference technology pursuant to this section:
(1) The interactive conference technology used by
the board shall allow interaction among all members of the board participating
in the meeting and all members of the public attending the meeting;
(2) Except as provided in subsections (c) and (d),
a quorum of board members participating in the meeting shall be visible and
audible to other members and the public during the meeting; provided that no
other meeting participants shall be required to be visible during the meeting;
(3) Any board member participating in a meeting by
interactive conference technology shall be considered present at the meeting
for the purpose of determining compliance with the quorum and voting
requirements of the board;
(4) At the start of the meeting the presiding officer
shall announce the names of the participating members;
(5) All votes shall be conducted by roll call
unless unanimous; and
(6) Boards shall record meetings open to the
public, when practicable, and make the recording of any meeting electronically
available to the public as soon as practicable after a meeting and until a time
as the minutes required by section 92-9 are electronically posted on the board's
website. Boards are encouraged to keep
recordings available on their website.
(c) A meeting held by interactive conference
technology shall be automatically recessed for up to thirty minutes to restore
communication when audiovisual communication cannot be maintained with all
members participating in the meeting or with the public location identified in
the board's notice pursuant to subsection (a)(1) or with the remote public
broadcast identified in the board's notice pursuant to subsection
(a)(2)(A). This subsection shall not
apply based on the inability of a member of the public to maintain an
audiovisual connection to the remote public broadcast, unless the remote public
broadcast itself is not transmitting an audiovisual link to the meeting. The meeting may reconvene when either
audiovisual communication is restored, or audio-only communication is
established after an unsuccessful attempt to restore audiovisual communication,
but only if the board has provided reasonable notice to the public as to how to
access the reconvened meeting after an interruption to communication. If audio-only communication is established,
then each speaker shall be required to state their name before making their
remarks. Within fifteen minutes after
audio-only communication is established, copies of nonconfidential visual aids
that are required by or brought to the meeting by board members or as part of a
scheduled presentation shall be made available either by posting on the
Internet or by other means to all meeting participants, including those
participating remotely, and those agenda items for which visual aids are not
available for all participants shall not be acted upon at the meeting. If it is not possible to reconvene the
meeting as provided in this subsection within thirty minutes after an
interruption to communication and the board has not provided reasonable notice
to the public as to how the meeting will be continued at an alternative date
and time, then the meeting shall be automatically terminated.
(d) During executive meetings from which the
public has been excluded, board members shall be audible to other authorized
participants but shall not be required to be visible. To preserve the executive nature of any
portion of a meeting closed to the public, the presiding officer shall publicly
state the names and titles of all authorized participants, and, upon convening
the executive session, all participants shall confirm to the presiding officer
that no unauthorized person is present or able to hear them at their remote
locations or via another audio or audiovisual connection. The person organizing the interactive
conference technology shall confirm that no unauthorized person has access to
the executive meeting as indicated on the control panels of the interactive
conference technology being used for the meeting, if applicable.
(e) Nothing in this section shall prohibit a
board from removing or blocking any persons who wilfully disrupt or compromise
the conduct of a meeting."
SECTION 2. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
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INTRODUCED BY: |
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Report Title:
Boards; Remote Testifiers; Remote Testimony; Removal
Description:
Requires a board to offer remote testifiers an option to be seen and heard by the board and the public when offering remote testimony. Authorizes a board to remove or block any persons who intentionally disrupt or compromise the conduct of a meeting.
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
