Bill Text: NH HB94 | 2011 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Relative to public access to advisory committee meetings under the right-to-know law.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Failed) 2011-02-09 - House Inexpedient to Legislate: Motion Adopted Voice Vote; House Journal 16, PG.324 [HB94 Detail]
Download: New_Hampshire-2011-HB94-Introduced.html
HB 94 – AS INTRODUCED
2011 SESSION
01/04
HOUSE BILL 94
AN ACT relative to public access to advisory committee meetings under the right-to-know law.
SPONSORS: Rep. Tholl, Coos 2; Rep. Remick, Coos 2
This bill allows a meeting of an advisory committee with no policy or decision making authority to have a quorum by electronic means under the right-to-know law. This bill also requires a clear way for the public to attend a meeting of an advisory committee which is held by electronic format.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
11-0380
01/04
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Eleven
AN ACT relative to public access to advisory committee meetings under the right-to-know law.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Meetings Open to the Public. Amend RSA 91-A:2, III(b) and (c) to read as follows:
(b) Except in an emergency, or for a meeting of an advisory committee with no policy or decision making authority, a quorum of the public body shall be physically present at the location specified in the meeting notice as the location of the meeting. For purposes of this subparagraph, an “emergency” means that immediate action is imperative and the physical presence of a quorum is not reasonably practical within the period of time requiring action. The determination that an emergency exists shall be made by the chairman or presiding officer of the public body, and the facts upon which that determination is based shall be included in the minutes of the meeting.
(c) Each part of a meeting required to be open to the public shall be audible or otherwise discernable to the public at the location specified in the meeting notice as the location of the meeting. Each member participating electronically or otherwise must be able to simultaneously hear each other and speak to each other during the meeting, and shall be audible or otherwise discernable to the public in attendance at the meeting's location. Any member participating in such fashion shall identify the persons present in the location from which the member is participating. No meeting shall be conducted by electronic mail or any other form of communication that does not permit the public to hear, read, or otherwise discern meeting discussion contemporaneously at the meeting location specified in the meeting notice. If an advisory committee meeting is held by electronic format, there shall be a clear way for the public to attend said meeting posted on the applicable agency’s website and notification as otherwise required in this chapter.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.
