Open Meeting Law Advisory Commission

As the Senate Chairman of the Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight, I am an appointee to the Open Meeting Law Advisory Commission.  The Open Meeting Law, M.G.L. c. 30A, §§ 18-25, was passed in 2009 and became effective July 1, 2010.  The Division of Open Government at the Office of the Attorney General implements and enforces the law.  To assist the Attorney General, the law also created the Commission to review issues relative to the open meeting law and submit to the Attorney General necessary and appropriate recommendations for changes to the regulations, and training or educational initiatives relative to the open meeting law.  To read the section that created the Commission, click here.

I serve on the Commission with my House counterpart and representatives from the Massachusetts Municipal Association, Massachusetts Newspaper Publishers Association, and the Office of the Attorney General.  The Commission holds regular meetings where we hear from staff of the Attorney General’s Division of Open Government.  Information on these meetings can be found here.  An example of the issues the Commission discusses is how and whether members of public bodies should participate in meetings from remote locations (i.e. when they are out of town). 

More information about the Open Meeting Law, including the law and regulations, a guide on the law, how to file a complaint, and upcoming trainings, can be found here.  For a searchable database containing the Division’s written determinations on complaints for violations of the Open Meeting Law, click here.  For helpful answers to Frequently Asked Questions about the Open Meeting Law, click here.