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Witness tells committee public comment law should prevent 'agenda gatekeeping'
Summary
Britney Seymour testified in support of SB 01-78, which would expand public-comment rights to matters germane to a local governing body's jurisdiction even if not on the meeting agenda; she described being denied an opportunity to speak on student-safety concerns and urged passage to ensure transparency.
Britney Seymour, vice secretary of the Cumberland County Young Republicans, testified that SB 01-78 is necessary to prevent local boards from using agenda rules to silence critics and avoid public accountability. "I'm here to tell you that when local governing bodies are allowed to choose who gets to speak based on their own comfort levels, they are no longer operating as a representative government," Seymour said in a three-minute testimony recounting attempts to address student-safety concerns and being denied by a board-hired attorney.
Sponsors and committee members discussed the bill's language clarifying that public comment be reserved for "any matter germane to the jurisdiction of the governing body regardless of whether the matter is listed on the agenda for the meeting." Senators emphasized that the bill keeps existing guardrails—time limits and rules on repetitive comments—while closing a loophole used to avoid public scrutiny. The committee voted the bill as amended and advanced it to the calendar.
