{"id":1949,"date":"2025-03-17T15:26:52","date_gmt":"2025-03-17T19:26:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/?post_type=press&#038;p=1949"},"modified":"2025-03-17T15:26:52","modified_gmt":"2025-03-17T19:26:52","slug":"advocates-statement-in-response-to-legislature-extending-remote-access-to-public-meetings","status":"publish","type":"press","link":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/press\/advocates-statement-in-response-to-legislature-extending-remote-access-to-public-meetings\/","title":{"rendered":"Advocates\u2019 statement in response to legislature extending remote access to public meetings"},"template":"","class_list":["post-1949","press","type-press","status-publish","hentry","press_type-press-release"],"acf":{"details":{"summary":"Pro-democracy, disability rights, and free press groups advocate for permanent guaranteed hybrid meeting access for all. \r\n","featured_image":"","press_type":146,"authors":"","related_issues":[105,464],"related_work":false,"location":24},"sidebar":{"helper_enable_sidebar":false,"helper_media_contact":{"heading":"Media Contact","manually_enter_person":false,"person":"","name":"","role":"","phone":"","email":""},"helper_links_downloads":{"heading":"Links & Downloads","links":null}},"page_layout":[{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_wysiwyg":{"content":"<div><span data-olk-copy-source=\"MessageBody\">BOSTON \u2013 The House and Senate signaled their intentions to extend rules allowing public bodies subject to the Open Meeting Law to continue conducting meetings virtually, with a remote access option for members of the public through June of 2027.<\/span><\/div>\r\n<div><\/div>\r\n<div>Advocates\u2014including the ACLU of Massachusetts, Boston Center for Independent Living, Common Cause Massachusetts, Disability Law Center, League of Women Voters of Massachusetts, Massachusetts Newspaper Publishers Association, MASSPIRG, New England First Amendment Coalition, and New England Newspaper &amp; Press Association\u2014released the following joint statement in response:<\/div>\r\n<div><\/div>\r\n<div><em>\u201cWe are very glad that the legislature is stepping up to enable hybrid and remote meetings to continue. Without the ability to participate remotely, people across the Commonwealth would be shut out from important public conversations about government decisions that directly impact their lives. Now, the next step is to permanently guarantee hybrid access to open meetings so equitable access cannot be denied from town to town or meeting to meeting. We look forward to working with House and Senate leadership to get this done this session.\u201d<\/em><\/div>\r\n<div><\/div>\r\n<div>The groups\u2014including disability rights and free press organizations\u2014support legislation (H.3299) that would permanently update the Open Meeting Law to require a hybrid meeting format so that members of the public can access and participate in public meetings remotely, in addition to the option of attending in person.<\/div>\r\n<div><\/div>\r\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">###<\/div>"}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_add_component","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_add_component":null},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_work","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_work":{"heading":"Work","manually_curate":false,"work":null}}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.6 (Yoast SEO v27.1.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Advocates\u2019 statement in response to legislature extending remote access to public meetings - 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