COVID-era Public Meeting Flexibilities Expire on March 31, 2025

Temporary provisions pertaining to the Open Meeting Law that were first introduced during COVID are due to expire on March 31, 2025. These temporary provisions allowed public bodies to continue holding meetings remotely without a quorum of the public body physically present at a meeting location, and to provide “adequate, alternative” access to remote meetings.

The temporary provisions contained two primary provisions: (1) allowing public bodies to provide live alternative means of public access to the deliberations of a public body; and (2) allowing members of a public body to continue participating in meetings remotely.

First, the public bodies were allowed to continue providing live “adequate, alternative means” of public access to the deliberations of the public body, instead of holding meetings in a public place that is open and physically accessible to the public. “Adequate, alternative means” include, without limitation, providing public access through telephone, internet, or satellite enabled audio or video conferencing or any other technology that enables the public to clearly follow the proceedings of the public body in real time.

Second, any or all members of a public body may continue participating in meetings remotely; the Open Meeting Law’s requirement that a quorum of the body and the chair be physically present at the meeting was suspended until March 31, 2025.

On January 31, 2025, Governor Healey re-filed the Municipal Empowerment Act. The Municipal Empowerment Act proposes to make COVID-era public meeting flexibilities permanent, which would allow local governments to permit hybrid public meetings permanently. Moreover, the Commonwealth will also make new capital resources available to municipalities to help build the infrastructure needed to enable increased access to hybrid public meetings across the state. This Act has not yet passed.

Currently, the temporary provisions allowing public meeting flexibilities are due to expire on March 31, 2025. After this date, meetings will be required to be held in a public place that is open and physically accessible to the public. Moreover, there will be a requirement that a quorum of the body and the chair be physically present at the meeting.

These developments do not affect the use of remote attendance by a member of a public body for the reasons recognized by the Open Meeting Law regulations and based on adoption by the municipality.

This update is provided for informational purposes only and should not be considered legal advice.