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Bill would ease quorum rules for large DHHS advisory bodies to allow hybrid meetings, sponsor says
Summary
Senators advanced a bill requested by DHHS to allow certain large advisory groups to form a valid quorum with a small number of members physically present and the remainder participating remotely under RSA 91-A requirements, the sponsor and agency officials said.
Senator Sue Prentiss introduced Senate Bill 190 at the request of the Department of Health and Human Services to modify quorum rules for two large DHHS advisory groups: the State Health Improvement Plan (SHIP) advisory council and the Commission on Interdisciplinary Primary Care Workforce.
Prentiss said both groups are large (the SHIP council has 39 members; the workforce commission 23 members) and have struggled to meet existing in-person quorum requirements. The bill would permit a hybrid model in which a small physical quorum (sponsor discussed one-seventh of membership, which she said rounded to six for the 39-member SHIP council) must be present in the room while remaining members may participate remotely, provided that the meeting satisfies RSA 91-A’s transparency provisions for hybrid meetings: synchronous audio/video for all participants, roll-call votes, and a public-facing meeting location.
Abby Rogers, legislative liaison for the Division of Public Health Services, told the committee the two bodies have reporting and voting duties and have struggled historically to meet quorum; she said the amendment would increase functionality. Whitney Hammond, interim deputy director of the Division of Public Health Services, explained the SHIP council was intentionally large to include cross-sector representation beyond typical public-health partners and that in-person attendance already tends to be close to the proposed physical quorum number while virtual participation is stronger.
Ed Shonchala, co-chair of the SHIP council, described the council’s work to produce locally actionable health-improvement strategies and said the proposed change would “greatly enhance our ability to be effective and efficient while honoring transparency and RSA requirements.”
The committee voted to move the bill out with an ought-to-pass recommendation; sponsors and agency representatives emphasized that the bill requires hybrid meetings to meet RSA 91-A standards. The committee did not record amendments at the hearing and voted the bill out by consent.
Ending: If enacted, the bill would enable hybrid meetings for the two large DHHS advisory bodies when a small physical quorum is present and the meeting otherwise complies with RSA 91-A protections for public access and transparent roll-call voting.
