Title
Discuss and consider timing and plans to resume in-person Finance and Budget Committee meetings.
Summary
In March 2020, as Texans worked to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, Governor Abbott’s office granted the attorney general’s request to suspend certain open-meeting statutes. The temporary suspension allows, among other things, for telephonic or videoconference meetings of governmental bodies that are accessible to the public in an effort to reduce in-person meetings that assemble large groups of people.
On May 25, 2021, City Council voted to resume in-person Council meetings and to give more time for the Boards and Commissions to decide when and how they will transition to in-person meetings.
On June 30, 2021, the governor’s office approved a request by the attorney general to lift those suspensions. The suspensions will lift at 12:01 a.m. on September 1, 2021. Thus, as of September 1, 2021, all provisions of the Open Meetings Act will be effective and all Texas governmental bodies subject to the Open Meetings Act must conduct their meetings in full compliance with the Open Meetings Act as written in state law.
Deadline for Action
No deadline for action.
Staff Recommendation
Discuss and consider action.
Drafter
Stephanie Nations, Budget Analyst