{"id":374,"date":"2023-08-01T10:47:10","date_gmt":"2023-08-01T14:47:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/press-releases\/the-sun-chronicle-editorial-finally-some-good-news-from-beacon-hill\/"},"modified":"2023-08-01T10:47:10","modified_gmt":"2023-08-01T14:47:10","slug":"the-sun-chronicle-editorial-finally-some-good-news-from-beacon-hill","status":"publish","type":"press","link":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/press\/the-sun-chronicle-editorial-finally-some-good-news-from-beacon-hill\/","title":{"rendered":"The Sun Chronicle editorial: Finally, some good news from Beacon Hill"},"template":"","class_list":["post-374","press","type-press","status-publish","hentry","press_type-news-clip"],"acf":{"details":{"summary":"The Sun Chronicle's editorial team supports efforts to bring transparency to municipal governments.","featured_image":"","press_type":155,"authors":null,"related_issues":[92,103,105,464],"related_work":false,"location":24},"sidebar":{"helper_enable_sidebar":false,"helper_media_contact":{"heading":"Media Contact","manually_enter_person":false,"person":null,"name":"","role":"","phone":"","email":""},"helper_links_downloads":{"heading":"Links & Downloads","links":null}},"page_layout":[{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_wysiwyg":{"content":"This editorial <\/span>originally appeared<\/span><\/a> in the Sun Chronicle on July 29, 2023 and was written by the Sun Chronicle editorial team. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nBelow is the portion on An Act to Modernize Participation in Public Meetings<\/i>\u00a0(H.3040<\/a>\/S.2024<\/a>).\r\n\r\nThe second bill, which fell short in the last legislative session, would permanently allow virtual and hybrid participation in public meetings first granted during the pandemic.\r\n\r\nAs we have said before, Zoom meetings provide far more public access to what\u2019s going on at town hall \u2014 always a good thing. Others agree.\r\n\r\nEight groups \u2014 the Massachusetts Newspaper Publishers Association, the Disability Law Center, the ACLU of Massachusetts, Boston Center for Independent Living, Common Cause Massachusetts, MassPIRG, the New England First Amendment Coalition and the New England Newspaper and Press Association \u2014 have joined together to support the effort to make hybrid participation permanent.\r\n\r\nThe groups argue that remote meetings preserved public bodies\u2019 ability to operate, but also \u201copened the door to civic engagement for members of the public and many people who had previously been shut out,\u201d including seniors with mobility issues, people with disabilities, parents with young children, people with elder care and adult care responsibilities, people who can\u2019t drive or afford taxis or rideshares, people with chronic medical conditions, and people who just want to know more about their government.\r\n\r\n\u201cRemote access is the latest instance of universal design \u2014 alongside curb cuts, elevators, closed captioning, audiobooks, and other features \u2014 that began as accommodations and expanded to universal popularity,\u201d the groups wrote. \u201cLike these innovations and others emerging during the pandemic, remote access to public meetings should become a permanent feature.\u201d\r\n\r\nTo read the full article, <\/span>click here<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>"}}]},"yoast_head":"\nThe Sun Chronicle editorial: Finally, some good news from Beacon Hill - 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