Bill Text: TX HB630 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Enrolled

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Bill Title: Relating to the Internet broadcast and archiving of open meetings of the Health and Human Services Commission, health and human services agencies, and related advisory entities.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Passed) 2017-05-23 - Effective on 9/1/17 [HB630 Detail]

Download: Texas-2017-HB630-Enrolled.html

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H.B. No. 630

AN ACT
relating to the Internet broadcast and archiving of open meetings
of the Health and Human Services Commission, health and human
services agencies, and related advisory entities.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 531.0121, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsection (e) to read as
follows:
(c) The commission shall make available on the commission's
Internet website:
(1) the master calendar;
(2) all meeting materials for an advisory committee
meeting; and
(3) streaming live video and audio of each advisory
committee meeting.
(e) The commission shall ensure that advisory committee
meetings are broadcast, are archived on the Internet website of the
agency to which the advisory committee provides advice, and are
subject to public notice requirements to the same extent and in the
same manner that the broadcast, archiving, and notice of agency
meetings are required under Section 531.0165.
SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 531, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 531.0165 to read as follows:
Sec. 531.0165. INTERNET BROADCAST AND ARCHIVE OF OPEN
MEETINGS. (a) In this section, "agency" means the commission or a
health and human services agency.
(b) Each agency shall:
(1) broadcast over the Internet live video and audio
of each open meeting of the agency;
(2) make a video and audio recording of reasonable
quality of the broadcast; and
(3) provide access to the archived video and audio on
the agency's Internet website.
(c) Not later than the seventh day after the date an open
meeting is broadcast under this section, the agency shall make
available through the agency's Internet website archived video and
audio of the open meeting. The agency shall maintain the archived
video and audio of the open meeting on the agency's Internet website
for not less than two years after the date the archived video and
audio was first made available on the website.
(d) Each agency shall provide on the agency's Internet
website the same notice of the open meeting that the agency is
required to post under Subchapter C, Chapter 551. The notice must
be posted on the agency's Internet website within the time required
for posting notice under Subchapter C, Chapter 551.
(e) Each agency may use for an Internet broadcast of an open
meeting of the agency a room made available to the agency on request
in any state building, as that term is defined by Section 2165.301.
(f) Each agency is exempt from the requirements of this
section to the extent a catastrophe, as defined by Section
551.0411, or a technical breakdown prevents the agency from
complying with this section. Following the catastrophe or
technical breakdown, the agency shall make all reasonable efforts
to make the required video and audio of the open meeting available
in a timely manner.
(g) The commission shall consider contracting through
competitive bidding with a private individual or entity to
broadcast and archive an open meeting subject to this section to
minimize the cost of complying with this section.
(h) The requirements of this section also apply to the
meetings of any advisory body that advises the executive
commissioner or an agency. The archived video and audio of an
advisory body's meeting must be made available through the Internet
website of the agency to which the advisory body provides advice.
SECTION 3. Sections 531.0051(g) and (m), Government Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(g) The council shall comply with the requirements of
Section 531.0165 [give public notice of the date, time, and place of
each meeting held by the council. A live video transmission of
each meeting must be publicly available through the Internet]. The
archived video and audio of a council meeting must be made available
through the commission's Internet website.
(m) Except as provided by Section 531.0165(d), Chapters 551
and 2110 do not apply to the council.
SECTION 4. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
an open meeting held on or after September 1, 2023.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 630 was passed by the House on April
5, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 144, Nays 0, 1 present, not
voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 630 was passed by the Senate on May
11, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: _____________________
Date
_____________________
Governor