Amend the bill by striking out everything after the enacting clause and before the summary and inserting the following:

summary

This amendment is the minority report of the Joint Standing Committee on Judiciary.

This amendment replaces the bill, which restricts which public bodies may conduct public proceedings when one or more members are participating remotely through telephonic, video, electronic or other similar means of communication. Instead, this amendment provides that any body subject to the Freedom of Access Act may conduct a public proceeding in which one or more members participate remotely through telephonic, video, electronic or other similar means of communication, but only if the body first adopts a written policy that governs the remote participation and that explicitly describes how the policy meets the principles of the Freedom of Access Act. The policy must address under what circumstances a member may participate remotely, whether the body may conduct an executive session when a member is participating remotely, whether a quorum must physically assemble, the proceedings in which a member participating remotely may vote and how the body will ensure that members of the public in attendance at the site of the proceeding included in the notice can hear or see and hear the members who are participating remotely.

A body that adopts a remote participation policy must make the policy available on the body's publicly accessible website and must post a copy at the location of each meeting during which one or more members participate remotely.

A body that adopts a remote participation policy must send a copy of the policy to the Public Access Ombudsman, who will make all the policies received available to the public and submit them annually to the Right To Know Advisory Committee.