State Rep. William Lamberth, R-Portland, and state Sen. Mike Bell, R-Riceville, are pushing a bill that would require government entities to post meeting agendas on their websites, as well as other basic government information.
House Bill 2132 and Senate Bill 2756 would make it easier and faster for the public to get and review agendas for upcoming meetings.
The bill requires a government entity with a website to post its meetings agendas on the website at least three calendar days in advance of the meeting. While the bill does not prohibit a government entity from adding items to their agenda during the meeting, it does require that the agenda describe specific matters to be discussed or deliberated.
The bill is scheduled in the House Public Service and Employees Subcommittee on Wednesday afternoon and in the Senate State and Local Committee on Tuesday morning.
Other items required to be put on the website include:
- Supplemental meeting documents, commonly referred to as “board packets;
- Contact information for elected officials and members of governing bodies;
- Minutes from public meetings, going back at least 12 months;
- The government entity’s comprehensive annual financial support and other annual financial reports and audits required of the government entity, going back five years;
- The charter or other organizing or governing documents of the governmental entity and governing body;
- Policies, rules, ordinances and resolutions governing public meetings, public hearings and public records; and
- Contact information for more information about public meetings, public hearings and public records.
If a government entity does not have a website, the government entity would be required to make the documents freely and promptly available at a place accessible to the public.
