Senate fails to act on OPMA updates

After the House quickly acted on two major updates to the Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA), the Senate left the updates to die without a floor vote.

HB 1056 passed out of the House on January 22 before sitting in the Senate Rules Committee since mid-March. The bill would have allowed local governments to hold virtual public meetings during a declared emergency. This update to the OPMA was especially important with the upcoming fire season as well as the eventual expiration of the governor’s COVID-19 emergency orders. The bill had enjoyed unanimous bipartisan support making its demise even more frustrating.

HB 1329 passed the House on February 26 before making it to the Senate Rules Committee on March 25. While less critical than HB 1056, the bill would have encouraged cities to provide remote access to public meetings and make recordings of meetings available to the public. It also would have mandated public comment prior to final action, as well as require a city, upon request by an individual with a disability, limited mobility, or other related reasons, to provide options for remote comment when feasible. This bill also had strong bipartisan support.

AWC is disappointed that the Senate chose not to take the two bills to a floor vote despite strong support from the House and Senate committees. While the bills won’t advance further this year, both bills will start out in the House Rules Committee next session.