Bill Text: IL HB4124 | 2021-2022 | 102nd General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Amends the Open Meetings Act. Provides that if a quorum of the members of the public body is physically present, a majority of the public body may allow a member of that body to attend the meeting by other means if the member is prevented from physically attending because of, among other circumstances, childcare obligations.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-09-03 - Referred to Rules Committee [HB4124 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2021-HB4124-Introduced.html
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1 | AN ACT concerning government.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 5. The Open Meetings Act is amended by changing | |||||||||||||||||||
5 | Section 7 as follows:
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6 | (5 ILCS 120/7)
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7 | Sec. 7. Attendance by a means other than physical | |||||||||||||||||||
8 | presence. | |||||||||||||||||||
9 | (a) If a
quorum of the members of the public body is | |||||||||||||||||||
10 | physically present as required by Section 2.01, a majority of | |||||||||||||||||||
11 | the public body may allow a member of that body to attend the | |||||||||||||||||||
12 | meeting by other means if the member is prevented from | |||||||||||||||||||
13 | physically
attending because of: (i) personal illness or | |||||||||||||||||||
14 | disability; (ii) employment purposes or
the
business of the | |||||||||||||||||||
15 | public body; or (iii) a family or other emergency ; or (iv) | |||||||||||||||||||
16 | childcare obligations .
"Other means" is by video or audio | |||||||||||||||||||
17 | conference.
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18 | (b) If a member wishes to attend a meeting by other means, | |||||||||||||||||||
19 | the
member must notify the
recording secretary or clerk of the
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20 | public body before the meeting unless
advance notice is | |||||||||||||||||||
21 | impractical.
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22 | (c) A majority of the public body may allow a member to | |||||||||||||||||||
23 | attend a meeting by other means only in accordance with and to |
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1 | the extent allowed by rules adopted by the public body. The | ||||||
2 | rules must conform to the requirements and restrictions of | ||||||
3 | this Section, may further limit the extent to which attendance | ||||||
4 | by other means is allowed, and may provide for the giving of | ||||||
5 | additional notice to the public or further facilitate public | ||||||
6 | access to meetings.
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7 | (d) The limitations of this Section shall not apply to (i) | ||||||
8 | closed meetings of (A) public bodies with statewide | ||||||
9 | jurisdiction, (B) Illinois library systems with jurisdiction | ||||||
10 | over a specific geographic area of more than 4,500 square | ||||||
11 | miles, (C) municipal transit districts with jurisdiction over | ||||||
12 | a specific geographic area of more than 4,500 square miles, or | ||||||
13 | (D) local workforce innovation areas with jurisdiction over a | ||||||
14 | specific geographic area of more than 4,500 square miles or | ||||||
15 | (ii) open or closed meetings of State advisory boards or | ||||||
16 | bodies that do not have authority to make binding | ||||||
17 | recommendations or determinations or to take any other | ||||||
18 | substantive action. State advisory boards or bodies, public | ||||||
19 | bodies with statewide jurisdiction, Illinois library systems | ||||||
20 | with jurisdiction over a specific geographic area of more than | ||||||
21 | 4,500 square miles, municipal transit districts with | ||||||
22 | jurisdiction over a specific geographic area of more than | ||||||
23 | 4,500 square miles, and local workforce investment areas with | ||||||
24 | jurisdiction over a specific geographic area of more than | ||||||
25 | 4,500 square miles, however, may permit members to attend | ||||||
26 | meetings by other means only in accordance with and to the |
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1 | extent allowed by specific procedural rules adopted by the | ||||||
2 | body.
For the purposes of this Section, "local workforce | ||||||
3 | innovation area" means any local workforce innovation area or | ||||||
4 | areas designated by the Governor pursuant to the federal | ||||||
5 | Workforce
Innovation and Opportunity Act or its reauthorizing | ||||||
6 | legislation. | ||||||
7 | (e) Subject to the requirements of Section 2.06 but | ||||||
8 | notwithstanding any other provision of law, an open or closed | ||||||
9 | meeting subject to this Act may be conducted by audio or video | ||||||
10 | conference, without the physical presence of a quorum of the | ||||||
11 | members, so long as the following conditions are met: | ||||||
12 | (1) the Governor or the Director of the Illinois | ||||||
13 | Department of Public Health has issued a disaster | ||||||
14 | declaration related to public health concerns because of a | ||||||
15 | disaster as defined in Section 4 of the Illinois Emergency | ||||||
16 | Management Agency Act, and all or part of the jurisdiction | ||||||
17 | of the public body is covered by the disaster area; | ||||||
18 | (2) the head of the public body as defined in | ||||||
19 | subsection (e) of Section 2 of the Freedom of Information | ||||||
20 | Act determines that an in-person meeting or a meeting | ||||||
21 | conducted under this Act is not practical or prudent | ||||||
22 | because of a disaster; | ||||||
23 | (3) all members of the body participating in the | ||||||
24 | meeting, wherever their physical location, shall be | ||||||
25 | verified and can hear one another and can hear all | ||||||
26 | discussion and testimony; |
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1 | (4) for open meetings, members of the public present | ||||||
2 | at the regular meeting location of the body can hear all | ||||||
3 | discussion and testimony and all votes of the members of | ||||||
4 | the body, unless attendance at the regular meeting | ||||||
5 | location is not feasible due to the disaster, including | ||||||
6 | the issued disaster declaration, in which case the public | ||||||
7 | body must make alternative arrangements and provide notice | ||||||
8 | pursuant to this Section of such alternative arrangements | ||||||
9 | in a manner to allow any interested member of the public | ||||||
10 | access to contemporaneously hear all discussion, | ||||||
11 | testimony, and roll call votes, such as by offering a | ||||||
12 | telephone number or a web-based link; | ||||||
13 | (5) at least one member of the body, chief legal | ||||||
14 | counsel, or chief administrative officer is physically | ||||||
15 | present at the regular meeting location, unless unfeasible | ||||||
16 | due to the disaster, including the issued disaster | ||||||
17 | declaration; and | ||||||
18 | (6) all votes are conducted by roll call, so each | ||||||
19 | member's vote on each issue can be identified and | ||||||
20 | recorded. | ||||||
21 | (7) Except in the event of a bona fide emergency, 48 | ||||||
22 | hours' notice shall be given of a meeting to be held | ||||||
23 | pursuant to this Section. Notice shall be given to all | ||||||
24 | members of the public body, shall be posted on the website | ||||||
25 | of the public body, and shall also be provided to any news | ||||||
26 | media who has requested notice of meetings pursuant to |
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1 | subsection (a) of Section 2.02 of this Act. If the public | ||||||
2 | body declares a bona fide emergency: | ||||||
3 | (A) Notice shall be given pursuant to subsection | ||||||
4 | (a) of Section 2.02 of this Act, and the presiding | ||||||
5 | officer shall state the nature of the emergency at the | ||||||
6 | beginning of the meeting. | ||||||
7 | (B) The public body must comply with the verbatim | ||||||
8 | recording requirements set forth in Section 2.06 of | ||||||
9 | this Act. | ||||||
10 | (8) Each member of the body participating in a meeting | ||||||
11 | by audio or video conference for a meeting held pursuant | ||||||
12 | to this Section is considered present at the meeting for | ||||||
13 | purposes of determining a quorum and participating in all | ||||||
14 | proceedings. | ||||||
15 | (9) In addition to the requirements for open meetings | ||||||
16 | under Section 2.06, public bodies holding open meetings | ||||||
17 | under this subsection (e) must also keep a verbatim record | ||||||
18 | of all their meetings in the form of an audio or video | ||||||
19 | recording. Verbatim records made under this paragraph (9) | ||||||
20 | shall be made available to the public under, and are | ||||||
21 | otherwise subject to, the provisions of Section 2.06. | ||||||
22 | (10) The public body shall bear all costs associated | ||||||
23 | with compliance with this subsection (e).
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24 | (Source: P.A. 100-477, eff. 9-8-17; 101-640, eff. 6-12-20.)
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