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Committee considers expanding Open Meeting Act exceptions to cover sale, lease and acquisition of real estate
Summary
Lawmakers debated Senate Bill 491, which would add sale, lease and acquisition of property to the executive-session topics allowed under the Open Meeting Act so the full public body can participate in confidential negotiations; the bill’s sponsor said votes must remain public and no final vote was recorded in the transcript.
A committee heard testimony on Senate Bill 491, a proposal to update the Open Meeting Act to permit public bodies to discuss sale, lease and acquisition of real estate in executive session so the entire elected body can participate in confidential negotiations.
The presenter described the change as an update to help public bodies be "better stewards of taxpayer dollars." He said the current law "allows in executive sessions to only discuss the purchase and appraisal of real estate" and the bill would add "the sale, lease and acquisition to cover all real estate transactions." He emphasized that "No decisions can be made in executive session. All votes still have to happen publicly as required by law."
The sponsor argued the bill would increase transparency by allowing all elected officials to take part in confidential discussions while protecting negotiating positions and taxpayer dollars. He told the committee current negotiations often occur "behind closed doors by 1 or 2 of the members of the Council and that leaves the other elected officials out and their constituents. And so that's not transparency."
Committee members did not record a final vote for SB 491 in the provided transcript. The presenter moved for passage and yielded for questions; there was discussion but no committee tally appears in the transcript fragment.
If adopted, the bill would broaden the topics a public body may discuss in executive session while maintaining the statutory requirement that votes occur in public.
