Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Open Meetings topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Senate approves changes to Open Meetings Act over objections from several senators
Summary
Senate Bill 129, an amendment to the Open Meetings Act, passed 20-16-1 after floor debate and multiple no-vote explanations that criticized provisions allowing remote attendance on claimed disability grounds without stronger verification.
The Michigan Senate approved changes to the Open Meetings Act on April 15, with final passage of Senate Bill 129 recorded at 20 aye, 16 no, and 1 excused. The bill was reported with no amendments pending when it reached final passage.
Senator Runstead, a Michigan state senator, offered a detailed no-vote explanation on the floor, arguing the measure as written could allow a person appointed to a public commission to claim a disability and attend remotely without sufficient verification. “This bill is written, sloppily as seems like all the Democrat bills are, is allowing a person to just simply say, I have some kind of a disability and thus can go remote and not have to face the public,” Runstead said, adding that he was especially concerned about bodies such as the Michigan Public Service Commission being able to avoid in-person public interaction.
Runstead said the Open Meetings Act’s purpose is to ensure the public can confront and ask questions of appointed officials and that the bill lacked provisions to require proof of a limiting condition. Senators Bellino and Tice asked to include the same no-vote explanation on the record.
The secretary closed the board and announced the tally after members voted. The bill now moves on the enactment pathway as recorded.
