The Massachusetts Legislature has extended permission for governmental bodies to hold remote and hybrid public meetings through March 31, effective immediately.
According to the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Open Meeting Law website, this extends the ability of public bodies to hold meetings remotely without a quorum of the public body physically present. These temporary provisions were put in place in 2020 in response to the pandemic and were set to expire on July 15, 2022. No other changes were made to these provisions.
Newton City Council President Susan Albright emailed her colleagues on July 14 to note the legislature’s passage of the extension, which covers a wide range of local meetings and hearings, including Newton’s four Area Councils.
Rena Getz, President of the Waban Area Council, noted that some Area Council members have co-morbidities that prevent them from participating in-person. The online format “is much better and we’ve acclimated to it,” she said, noting that it “opens the door much wider to participatory government.”