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Committee, Secretary of Stateoffice back S.59 language but flag need to define "field visits"
Summary
The Government Operations & Military Affairs committee on May 8 advanced discussion of S.59, a package of amendments to Vermont—s meeting law; staff from the Secretary of State—s Office said they had no substantive objections but suggested clarifying the bill—s exception for field visits and agreed to monitor how the change works in practice.
Members of the Government Operations & Military Affairs committee on May 8 continued work on S.59, a set of amendments to Vermont—s meeting law, and heard from staff of the Secretary of State—s Office who said they had no substantive objections to the draft but recommended monitoring how a new exception for on-site inspections operates.
Jenny Prosser, of the Secretary of State—s Office, told the committee the office was "fine with all of" the proposed changes and specifically said it was "fine with resting on the language that the senate passed" regarding the field-visit exception. Prosser added that "field visits could be something that potentially, having more guidance and a definition on might be useful to folks calling." The committee introduced a new staff member from the Secretary of State—s municipal division and general counsel—s office, Kelly Kayala, during the meeting.
The discussion focused on a draft provision the speakers identified as limiting the exception to the electronic-recording and public electronic-participation elements of meetings. A committee member asked whether the draft—s Section "2 1 BSA 3 12 a 6" refers to site inspections or field visits; the member confirmed that the section "does talk about the site inspection or field visit." Committee members said the panel overhauled meeting-law provisions after the COVID-19 period and that they expect to "listen to the folks who are experiencing it" and be open to changes.
No formal motions or votes were recorded during the portion of the meeting covered by the transcript. Committee discussion produced two clear next steps: (1) staff and the Secretary of State—s Office will monitor public inquiries and practical issues arising from the field-visit exception as the revisions take effect; and (2) the committee may revisit the language in January if the office receives a significant number of calls or complaints requiring clarification.
The session included remote participants and lasted only long enough to introduce the Secretary of State—s Office representatives and address questions about the field-visit language; other agenda items and additional remote participants were noted but not discussed in the transcript excerpt.
