Bill Text: MI HB4184 | 2017-2018 | 99th Legislature | Engrossed

Michigan House Bill 4184 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: Civil rights; open meetings; physical presence required for vote; clarify. Amends sec. 3 of 1976 PA 267 (MCL 15.263).

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2017-06-06 - Referred To Committee On Elections And Government Reform [HB4184 Detail]

Download: Michigan-2017-HB4184-Engrossed.html

HB-4184, As Passed House, May 31, 2017

SUBSTITUTE FOR

HOUSE BILL NO. 4184

A bill to amend 1976 PA 267, entitled

"Open meetings act,"

by amending section 3 (MCL 15.263), as amended by 2016 PA 504.

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

Sec. 3. (1) All meetings of a public body shall be open to the

public and shall be held in a place available to the general

public. All persons shall be permitted to attend any meeting except

as otherwise provided in this act. The right of a person to attend

a meeting of a public body includes the right to tape-record, to

videotape, to broadcast live on radio, and to telecast live on

television the proceedings of a public body at a public meeting.

The exercise of this right ~~shall not be dependent upon the~~ does not

depend on prior approval of the public body. However, a public body

may establish reasonable rules and regulations ~~in order~~ to minimize

House Bill No. 4184 as amended May 30, 2017

the possibility of disrupting the meeting.

(2) All decisions of a public body shall be made at a meeting

open to the public. For a decision of a public body consisting only

of elected members[or members appointed to fill elected positions] to be

considered to be made at a meeting open to

the public, each member of the public body who votes on the issue

must be physically present when casting his or her vote. The

requirement to be physically present to vote[, subject to subsection

(12),] does not apply to an

emergency session conducted in compliance with section 5(5) or to a

meeting to address critical personnel or infrastructure issues, if

a delay could result in unnecessary or increased costs or liability

to a local unit of government. The requirement to be physically

present to vote[, subject to subsection (12),] does not apply to an

elected member who is called

for military duty. The requirement to be physically present to vote

may[, subject to subsection (12),] be waived by the elective body for 1

meeting each year for each

member if all of the following conditions are met:

(a) The vote is cast through a video conference system.

(b) The absence is for good cause, including, but not limited

to, a serious illness of the member or his or her family member or

the death of a family member.

(3) All deliberations of a public body constituting a quorum

of its members shall take place at a meeting open to the public

except as provided in this section and sections 7 and 8.

(4) A person shall not be required as a condition of

attendance at a meeting of a public body to register or otherwise

provide his or her name or other information or otherwise to

fulfill a condition precedent to attendance.

(5) A person shall be permitted to address a meeting of a

public body under rules established and recorded by the public

body. The legislature or a house of the legislature may provide by

rule that the right to address may be limited to prescribed times

at hearings and committee meetings only.

(6) A person shall not be excluded from a meeting otherwise

open to the public except for a breach of the peace actually

committed at the meeting.

(7) This act does not apply to the following public bodies,

but only when deliberating the merits of a case:

(a) The Michigan compensation appellate commission operating

as described in either of the following:

(i) Section 274 of the worker's disability compensation act of

1969, 1969 PA 317, MCL 418.274.

(ii) Section 34 of the Michigan employment security act, 1936

(Ex Sess) PA 1, 421.34.

(b) The state tenure commission created in section 1 of

article VII of 1937 (Ex Sess) PA 4, MCL 38.131, when acting as a

board of review from the decision of a controlling board.

arbitration panel created or appointed under 1939 PA 176, MCL 423.1

to 423.30.

(d) The Michigan public service commission created under 1939

PA 3, MCL 460.1 to 460.11.

(8) This act does not apply to an association of insurers

created under the insurance code of 1956, 1956 PA 218, MCL 500.100

to 500.8302, or other association or facility formed under that act

House Bill No. 4184 as amended May 30, 2017

as a nonprofit organization of insurer members.

(9) This act does not apply to a committee of a public body

that adopts a nonpolicymaking resolution of tribute or memorial,

~~which~~ if the resolution is not adopted at a meeting.

(10) This act does not apply to a meeting that is a social or

chance gathering or conference not designed to avoid this act.

(11) This act does not apply to the Michigan veterans' trust

fund board of trustees or a county or district committee created

under 1946 (1st Ex Sess) PA 9, MCL 35.602 to 35.610, when the board

of trustees or county or district committee is deliberating the

merits of an emergent need. A decision of the board of trustees or

county or district committee made under this subsection shall be

reconsidered by the board or committee at its next regular or

special meeting consistent with the requirements of this act.

"Emergent need" means a situation that the board of trustees, by

rules promulgated under the administrative procedures act of 1969,

1969 PA 306, MCL 24.201 to 24.328, determines requires immediate

action.

[(12) A public body subject to subsection (2) may, by resolution or other formal procedure, require the physical presence of its members, without exception, to cast votes at a meeting considered open to the public.]

Enacting section 1. This amendatory act takes effect 90 days

after the date it is enacted into law.