Hawaii-2024-HB1599-Amended

SECTION 1. The purpose of this Act is to:

(1) Require public meeting notices to inform members of the public how to provide remote oral testimony in a manner that allows the testifier, upon request, to be visible to board members and other meeting participants; and

(2) Recognize a board's authority to remove and block individuals who disrupt meetings remotely.

SECTION 2. Section 92-3.7, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§92-3.7 Remote meeting by interactive conference technology; notice; quorum. (a) A board may hold a remote meeting by interactive conference technology; provided that the interactive conference technology used by the board allows audiovisual interaction among all members of the board participating in the meeting and all members of the public attending the meeting, except as otherwise provided under this section; provided further that there is at least one meeting location that is open to the public and has an audiovisual connection. A board holding a remote meeting pursuant to this section shall not be required to allow members of the public to join board members in person at nonpublic locations where board members are physically present or to identify those locations in the notice required by section 92-7; provided that at the meeting, each board member shall state the name of any person eighteen years of age or older who is present at the nonpublic location with the member; provided further that the name of a person under the age of eighteen years shall be stated if the person has a personal business, property, or financial interest on any issue before the board at the meeting. The notice required by section 92-7 shall:

(1) List at least one meeting location that is open to the public that shall have an audiovisual connection; and

(2) Inform members of the public how to contemporaneously:

(A) Remotely view the video and audio of the meeting through internet streaming or other means; and

(B) Provide remote oral testimony in a manner that allows [~~board~~]:

(i) Board members and other meeting participants to hear the testimony[~~, whether through an internet link, a telephone conference, or other means.~~]; and

(ii) The testifier to be visible to board members and other meeting participants upon request by the testifier.

The board may provide additional locations open for public participation. The notice required by section 92-7 shall list any additional locations open for public participation and specify, in the event an additional location loses its audiovisual connection to the remote meeting, whether the meeting will continue without that location or will be automatically recessed to restore communication as provided in subsection (c).

(b) For a remote meeting held by interactive conference technology pursuant to this section:

(1) The interactive conference technology used by the board shall allow interaction among all members of the board participating in the meeting and all members of the public attending the meeting;

(2) Except as provided in subsections (c) and (d), a quorum of board members participating in the meeting shall be visible and audible to other members and the public during the meeting; provided that no other meeting participants shall be required to be visible during the meeting;

(3) Any board member participating in a meeting by interactive conference technology shall be considered present at the meeting for the purpose of determining compliance with the quorum and voting requirements of the board;

(4) At the start of the meeting, the presiding officer shall announce the names of the participating members;

(5) All votes shall be conducted by roll call unless unanimous; and

(6) Boards shall record meetings open to the public, when practicable, and make the recording of any meeting electronically available to the public as soon as practicable after a meeting and until a time as the minutes required by section 92-9 are electronically posted on the board's website. Boards are encouraged to keep recordings available on their website.

(c) A meeting held by interactive conference technology shall be automatically recessed for up to thirty minutes to restore communication when audiovisual communication cannot be maintained with all members participating in the meeting or with the public location identified in the board's notice pursuant to subsection (a)(1) or with the remote public broadcast identified in the board's notice pursuant to subsection (a)(2)(A). This subsection shall not apply based on the inability of a member of the public to maintain an audiovisual connection to the remote public broadcast, unless the remote public broadcast itself is not transmitting an audiovisual link to the meeting. The meeting may reconvene when either audiovisual communication is restored, or audio-only communication is established after an unsuccessful attempt to restore audiovisual communication, but only if the board has provided reasonable notice to the public as to how to access the reconvened meeting after an interruption to communication. If audio-only communication is established, then each speaker shall be required to state their name before making their remarks. Within fifteen minutes after audio-only communication is established, copies of nonconfidential visual aids that are required by or brought to the meeting by board members or as part of a scheduled presentation shall be made available either by posting on the Internet or by other means to all meeting participants, including those participating remotely, and those agenda items for which visual aids are not available for all participants shall not be acted upon at the meeting. If it is not possible to reconvene the meeting as provided in this subsection within thirty minutes after an interruption to communication and the board has not provided reasonable notice to the public as to how the meeting will be continued at an alternative date and time, then the meeting shall be automatically terminated.

(d) During executive meetings from which the public has been excluded, board members shall be audible to other authorized participants but shall not be required to be visible. To preserve the executive nature of any portion of a meeting closed to the public, the presiding officer shall publicly state the names and titles of all authorized participants, and, upon convening the executive session, all participants shall confirm to the presiding officer that no unauthorized person is present or able to hear them at their remote locations or via another audio or audiovisual connection. The person organizing the interactive conference technology shall confirm that no unauthorized person has access to the executive meeting as indicated on the control panels of the interactive conference technology being used for the meeting, if applicable.

(e) Nothing in this section shall prohibit a board from removing or blocking any person who wilfully disrupts or compromises the conduct of a meeting."

SECTION 3. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect on January 1, 2025.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	1599
THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2024		H.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII		S.D. 2