Open Meetings

The ACLU succeeded in significantly restricting the reach of a bill allowing people with disabilities who serve on public bodies to participate in public meetings by telephone. As originally drafted, the bill essentially allowed any public official claiming to have a disability to make use of this new opportunity. Only a year ago, the Affiliate successfully lobbied for passage of a bill that generally banned telephone meetings of public bodies. As redrafted and approved by the legislature, the bill authorizes phone participation only when the Governor’s Commission on Disabilities formally certifies the disability and determines that no other reasonable accommodation is available. School District Improvement Teams: Following ACLU objections, the Senate recommitted a bill that would have allowed school district improvement teams to meet in private and without any public notice. The Affiliate argued that there was no compelling reason for granting the teams a special exemption from the open meetings law.