Open Meetings Archives - Page 7 of 28 - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

15 Apr, 2021

Senate eases toward allowing electronic meetings post-pandemic with key committee vote last night

By Deborah Fisher|2021-04-15T13:01:16-05:00April 15, 2021|Categories: Legislature, Open Meetings|Tags: electronic meetings, Rep. Dave Wright, State Sen. Richard Briggs|0 Comments

When citizens go to a public meeting of their local board of aldermen or county commission, they expect their representatives to be there. Sen. Richard Brigg, R-Knoxville They expect their representatives to discuss issues in public and vote in public. They expect to look them in the eye when they address them during public comment periods and public hearings. They hope to be able to talk to their representatives before and after a meeting, and many do. But a bill that passed a key Senate committee in a 5-4 vote last night would chip away at that tradition. SB301 would allow members of county and municipal governing bodies, [...]

13 Apr, 2021

Utility boards continue push to allow phone-in votes; other bills allowing electronic meetings also on tap

By Deborah Fisher|2021-04-13T09:05:26-05:00April 13, 2021|Categories: Legislature, Open Meetings|Tags: COVID-19, electronic meetings, utility boards|0 Comments

A bill that would allow members of hundreds of utility boards across the state to phone into a public meeting and cast their votes is scheduled to go before the House State Government Committee today. State Rep. Clark Boyd It is one of three pieces of legislation expected to be heard this week that seeks to lift requirements of state law and expand the ability of members of public governing bodies to participate and vote in public meetings electronically without having to attend in person. The three pieces of legislation have differing levels of standards and requirements for remote participation by governing bodies, but all appear to have [...]

2 Apr, 2021

Bill to allow local utility boards to end in-person public meetings moves forward

By Deborah Fisher|2021-04-04T16:03:21-05:00April 2, 2021|Categories: Legislature, Open Meetings|Tags: electronic meetings, State Rep. Clark Boyd, utilities|0 Comments

The House Public Service Subcommittee passed a bill last week that would permit hundreds of local utility boards that govern rates for electric, water, gas and other public services to stop meeting in person if they choose. The bill, HB 509, will be heard next week by the House State Government Committee at its 1:30 p.m. meeting Tuesday in the Cordell Hull building in Nashville. The bill has the potential to open the door for local governing bodies to start conducting meetings all electronically and casting votes on key issues by phone outside the public eye. Sponsor Clark Boyd, R-Lebanon, told the committee that the intention is to allow a [...]

21 Mar, 2021

Legislation would allow property owners to contest appraisals electronically

By Deborah Fisher|2021-03-21T20:24:13-05:00March 21, 2021|Categories: Legislature, Open Meetings|Tags: appraisals, boards of equalization, electronic meetings, property owners, State Rep. Kevin Vaughn, State Sen Paul Rose|0 Comments

To protest the county's appraised value of your property, you have to show up in person before a county board of equalization and make your case to the board members in person. Many people do this when their home's value has been increased by the county's appraiser, resulting in a higher tax bill. They often complain that the value assessed is not the true value, and that it should be lower. The law allows, but does not require, boards of equalization to allow the taxpayer to make his or her complaint to the board by electronic means in the discretion of the board. HB230 and SB436 seek to change that [...]

21 Mar, 2021

Proposed law would allow hundreds of local utility boards to avoid meeting in person

By Deborah Fisher|2021-03-21T11:45:07-05:00March 21, 2021|Categories: Legislature, Open Meetings|Tags: electronic meetings, State Rep. Clark Boyd, utilities|0 Comments

A proposed change to the Open Meetings Act, scheduled to be heard this week in a House subcommittee, would allow hundreds of local utility boards that manage water, sewage, solid waste, natural gas and electric systems to avoid meeting in person in front of the public. HB 509 allows the utility boards that otherwise are governed by the Open Meetings Act to allow any of their members to call into a meeting or participate by "other means of communication" if a quorum is present at the location of the meeting, creating a hybrid meeting of some board members there in person and some attending by phone or other means. [...]