[WEBINAR] Who Does What? Defining Proper Roles for Staff and Elected Officials
On February 4, 2022, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel opined that the Americans with Disabilities Act (the "ADA") requires public bodies to afford an individual with a disability a reasonable accommodation to participate...more
New Law Permits Local Governments to Continue to Meet Remotely Until 2024 - California’s historic open meeting law, the Ralph M. Brown Act, requires that local governments conduct their business in public meetings and...more
On September 2, 2021, Governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation (S.50001/A.40001), which includes a number of statutory protections and other emergency public health measures adopted in response to the recent increase in the...more
At the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, on March 16, 2020, at the Attorney General’s request, Governor Greg Abbott utilized Section 418.016 of the Government Code to suspend certain requirements of the Texas Open Meetings Act...more
On June 28, 2021, the Ohio legislature passed House Bill (H.B.) 244. If approved by Governor DeWine, H.B. 244 would prohibit Ohio public schools and universities from requiring that students and employees receive the COVID-19...more
For some time now, improving broadband internet access has been a priority for school districts and other political subdivisions across Ohio. Moreover, one of the main challenges faced by school districts in their efforts to...more
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the work of public entities had to continue. Amended Substitute House Bill 197 made that possible, by modifying the requirements of R.C. 121.22 to permit public bodies to meet by...more
The concept of a virtual public meeting arose out of necessity due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Pursuant to Amended Substitute House Bill 197, Ohio’s General Assembly authorized emergency relief to the Open Meetings Act...more
On Friday, June 25, 2021, Governor Pritzker extended the Disaster Declaration related to COVID-19 for another 30 days. Pursuant to the declaration, public bodies may continue to hold virtual meetings in accordance with the...more
On June 12, 2020, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed into law Public Act 101-0640 which, among other matters, amends Section 7 of the Open Meetings Act to allow meetings of members of a public body subject to the Act to...more
The Economic Stabilization and Assistance to Severely Distressed Sectors of the United States Economy (Title IV of the Cares Act) provides assistance to companies, states, and municipalities that are distressed because of the...more
As with most issues relating to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), expectations regarding the holding of public meetings have been evolving rapidly over the past few days. ...more