Requires that minutes taken at a meeting of a public body be posted on the agency's website within two weeks from an open meeting and one week from an executive session.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A1108A
SPONSOR: Paulin TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the public officers law, in relation to requiring that
minutes of meetings of a public body be posted on its website
PURPOSE:
To make minutes of meetings of a public body available online for the
public
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends subdivision 3 of section 106 of the public officers law
to require public bodies that maintain a regularly and routinely updated
website and utilize a high speed internet connection to make meeting
minutes available on the public body's website. Unabridged video
recordings, unabridged audio recordings, or unabridged written tran-
scripts may be posted in lieu of minutes.
Section 2 provides the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
The Open Meetings Law is intended to empower the public through the
availability and accessibility of meetings of public bodies. In an
effort to provide the public with useful information, section 106 of the
law also requires the meeting minutes of all public bodies to be made
available to the public upon request.
Section 106 of the Open Meetings Law does not mandate that meeting
minutes be posted online. Rather, this section of the law only requires
public bodies to make meeting minutes available, upon request, within 14
days of the meeting, or within seven days of an executive session where
a formal vote is taken. In an analysis of 20 local governments conducted
by the New York Coalition for Open Government, only 30 percent of local
governments posted minutes of the previous meeting before the next meet-
ing occurred.
Given COVID-19, individuals are at an immense disadvantage because there
is no in-person opportunity to attend meetings and traveling to the
public body's office to make a request for the meeting minutes presents
unnecessary risk. Therefore, it is important that public bodies make
meeting minutes available online so the public can safely and effec-
tively access them. Both Vermont and Virginia have passed similar laws
that require minutes to be posted online within 5 and 10 days of a
public body meeting, respectively.
This bill would require public bodies that maintain a regularly and
routinely updated website and utilize a high-speed internet connection
to post meeting minutes on the public body's website within 14 days of
the meeting or within seven days of an executive session where a formal
vote is taken. Unabridged video recordings, unabridged audio recordings,
or unabridged written transcripts may be posted in lieu of minutes.
Public bodies that do not maintain a regularly and routinely updated
website, including because they lack the staff necessary to process and
upload meeting minutes within two weeks of a public meeting would not be
required to adhere to this requirement. This bill would equip the public
with more information so they can understand the actions and decisions
of public bodies and hold authorities accountable.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
A.11142, 2020, referred to governmental operations.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
1108--A
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 7, 2021
___________
Introduced by M. of A. PAULIN, GALLAGHER, SEAWRIGHT, GALEF -- read once
and referred to the Committee on Governmental Operations -- committee
discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
to said committee
AN ACT to amend the public officers law, in relation to requiring that
minutes of meetings of a public body be posted on its website
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 3 of section 106 of the public officers law, as
2 amended by chapter 704 of the laws of 1979, such section as renumbered
3 by chapter 652 of the laws of 1983, is amended to read as follows:
4 3. Minutes of meetings of all public bodies shall be available to the
5 public in accordance with the provisions of the freedom of information
6 law within two weeks from the date of such meeting except that minutes
7 taken pursuant to subdivision two [hereof] of this section shall be
8 available to the public within one week from the date of the executive
9 session. If the agency in which a public body functions maintains a
10 regularly and routinely updated website and utilizes a high speed inter-
11 net connection, such minutes shall be posted on the website within two
12 weeks from the date of such meeting except that minutes taken pursuant
13 to subdivision two of this section shall be available to the public
14 within one week from the date of the executive session. For purposes of
15 this subdivision unabridged video recordings or unabridged audio
16 recordings or unabridged written transcripts may be deemed to be meeting
17 minutes. Nothing in this section shall require the creation of minutes
18 if the public body would not otherwise take them.
19 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD06235-08-1
