Feb. 18, 2025 - BOSTON - The Massachusetts Municipal Association (MMA), Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC), and the Massachusetts Association of Regional Planning Agencies (MARPA) this week announced their joint support for legislation to preserve current authorization to hold hybrid and remote public meetings in Massachusetts, which is scheduled to expire on March 31.

The three organizations today issued a joint statement backing the permanent codification of existing Open Meeting Law provisions in the Healey-Driscoll Administration’s recently-filed Municipal Empowerment Act, or MEA.

If adopted, the MEA would make hybrid and remote public meetings an explicitly allowable format under the state’s Open Meeting Law, which governs the public’s right to access government meetings. These authorizations have been extended several times since the pandemic forced remote accommodations in 2020, but are currently due to expire on March 31.

“In the earliest days of the COVID pandemic, every local government in the Commonwealth adapted — almost instantly — to change how it conducts the public’s business, in ways that increased transparency and accountability and boosted public participation and confidence,” said MMA Executive Director Adam Chapdelaine. “Each community quickly determined its best course, given the local needs, preferences, capabilities and resources, and has settled into a pattern that is familiar to the public. All we are asking is that this flexibility be made permanent."

“Hybrid and remote meetings have increased public access to government and enhanced engagement in our communities, and we don’t want to see the Commonwealth lose ground on that progress,” said MAPC Executive Director Marc Draisen. “Across our region, we have seen an uptick in public participation in meetings thanks to hybrid and remote options. Making this flexibility permanent will give municipalities the tools they need to best serve their residents in the future.”

“Meeting in hybrid and remote formats allows every community, from the largest to the smallest and from urban to rural, the chance to promote public participation. We know our local officials work best when they are reflecting the needs of their constituents, and when they have the freedom to choose the option that works best for their community. Having this flexibility is essential for good governance,” said MARPA Co-Chair and Franklin Regional Council of Government Executive Director Linda Dunlavy.

“Municipalities are already scheduling meetings for dates beyond the expiration of the hybrid and remote meeting flexibilities. Our municipal staff and residents are at risk of being unable to participate unless there is legislative action,” said MARPA Co-Chair and Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District Executive Director Jeffrey Walker.

According to the MMA, MAPC and MARPA, codifying the current authorizations would ensure that municipalities can decide when to enact remote or hybrid meeting, while taking into account staff capacity, public interest, financial as well as technological resources such as technology, staff, and space. On the other hand, if the current law expires, remote and hybrid meetings will become impossible.

Each city and town has dozens of boards, councils and commissions, which hold numerous meetings per year — often simultaneously. In total, there are more than 10,000 such boards across the Commonwealth.

In addition to the Open Meeting Law provisions in the Municipal Empowerment Act, the MMA, MAPC and MARPA also strongly support bills filed by Rep. Danielle Gregoire and Sen. Jacob Oliveira, HD.2863 and SD.1850, respectively, entitled An Act to modernize municipal meetings, town meetings, and local elections. All of these proposals would codify the public meeting provisions that have been overwhelmingly successful over the past five years.

“Despite good intentions, mandates for hybrid meetings are not practical and logistically infeasible given how local government operates,” Chapdelaine added. “We’re grateful to Gov. Healey for her thoughtful and common-sense proposal, and greatly appreciate similar bills filed by Rep. Gregoire and Sen. Oliveira, which provide additional options for legislative action.”

“Other COVID-originated provisions, such as expedited permitting for outdoor dining and to-go cocktails, have already been made permanent in state law,” said Draisen. “With the current law due to expire next month, MAPC is proud to join our colleagues at MARPA and the MMA in urging the Legislature to codify the already-successful flexibility around public meetings.”