1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to meetings of governmental bodies; 
  1.3             authorizing meetings by interactive television if 
  1.4             certain criteria are met; amending Minnesota Statutes 
  1.5             1996, sections 3.055, by adding a subdivision; 
  1.6             462A.04, subdivision 7; and 471.705, subdivision 1. 
  1.7   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.8      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 3.055, is 
  1.9   amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  1.10     Subd. 1a.  [MEETINGS BY ELECTRONIC MEANS.] (a) A meeting 
  1.11  governed by this section may be conducted by interactive 
  1.12  television so long as: 
  1.13     (1) all members of the body participating in the meeting, 
  1.14  wherever their physical location, can hear and see one another 
  1.15  and can hear and see all discussion and testimony presented at 
  1.16  any location at which at least one member is present; 
  1.17     (2) members of the public present at the regular meeting 
  1.18  location of the body can hear and see all discussion and 
  1.19  testimony and all votes of members of the body; and 
  1.20     (3) at least one member of the body is physically present 
  1.21  at the regular meeting location. 
  1.22     (b)  Each member of a body participating in a meeting by 
  1.23  interactive television is considered present at the meeting for 
  1.24  purposes of determining a quorum. 
  1.25     (c) If interactive television is used to conduct a meeting, 
  1.26  to the extent practical, a body shall allow a person to monitor 
  2.1   the meeting electronically from a remote location.  The body may 
  2.2   require the person making such a connection to pay for 
  2.3   documented marginal costs that the body incurs as a result of 
  2.4   the additional connection. 
  2.5      (d) House and senate rules governing notice of meetings 
  2.6   shall provide for giving notice that interactive television will 
  2.7   be used to conduct a meeting. 
  2.8      Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 462A.04, 
  2.9   subdivision 7, is amended to read: 
  2.10     Subd. 7.  [POWERS; QUORUM; VOTING MAJORITY.] (a) The powers 
  2.11  of the agency shall be vested in the members thereof in office 
  2.12  from time to time and a majority of the members of the agency 
  2.13  constitutes a quorum for the purpose of conducting its business 
  2.14  and exercising its powers and for all other purposes, 
  2.15  notwithstanding the existence of any vacancies.  Action may be 
  2.16  taken by the agency upon a vote of a majority of the members 
  2.17  present.  
  2.18     (b) A meeting of the members may be conducted by telephone 
  2.19  or other electronic means so long as: 
  2.20     (1) the meeting is a special or emergency meeting, and not 
  2.21  a regular meeting; 
  2.22     (2) the members participating in the meeting, wherever 
  2.23  their physical location, can simultaneously hear and identify 
  2.24  each other and hear all discussion presented; and 
  2.25     (3) members of the public present at the location of the 
  2.26  meeting can hear all discussion and testimony and the votes and 
  2.27  identities of the members. 
  2.28     (c) Participation in a meeting by telephone or other 
  2.29  electronic means constitutes presence at the meeting. 
  2.30     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 471.705, 
  2.31  subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  2.32     Subdivision 1.  [PRESUMPTION OF OPENNESS.] (a) Except as 
  2.33  otherwise expressly provided by statute, all meetings, including 
  2.34  executive sessions, of any a state agency, board, commission, or 
  2.35  department, when required or permitted by law to transact public 
  2.36  business in a meeting, and the governing body of any a school 
  3.1   district however organized, unorganized territory, 
  3.2   county, statutory or home rule city, town, or other public body, 
  3.3   and of any committee, subcommittee, board, department, or 
  3.4   commission thereof, shall of a public body, must be open to the 
  3.5   public, except meetings of the commissioner of corrections.  The 
  3.6   votes of the members of such the state agency, board, 
  3.7   commission, or department or of such the governing body, 
  3.8   committee, subcommittee, board, department, or commission on any 
  3.9   an action taken in a meeting herein required by this subdivision 
  3.10  to be open to the public shall must be recorded in a journal 
  3.11  kept for that purpose, and the journal shall must be open to the 
  3.12  public during all normal business hours where such records of 
  3.13  the public body are kept.  The vote of each member shall must be 
  3.14  recorded on each appropriation of money, except for payments of 
  3.15  judgments, claims, and amounts fixed by statute.  This section 
  3.16  shall does not apply to any a state agency, board, or commission 
  3.17  when it is exercising quasi-judicial functions involving 
  3.18  disciplinary proceedings. 
  3.19     (b) A meeting governed by this subdivision may be conducted 
  3.20  by interactive television so long as: 
  3.21     (1) all members of the body participating in the meeting, 
  3.22  wherever their physical location, can hear and see one another 
  3.23  and can hear and see all discussion and testimony presented at 
  3.24  any location at which at least one member is present; 
  3.25     (2) members of the public present at the regular meeting 
  3.26  location of the body can hear and see all discussion and 
  3.27  testimony and all votes of members of the body; and 
  3.28     (3) at least one member of the body is physically present 
  3.29  at the regular meeting location. 
  3.30     (c) Each member of a body participating in a meeting by 
  3.31  electronic means is considered present at the meeting for 
  3.32  purposes of determining a quorum. 
  3.33     (d) If interactive television is used to conduct a meeting, 
  3.34  to the extent practical, a public body shall allow a person to 
  3.35  monitor the meeting electronically from a remote location.  The 
  3.36  body may require the person making such a connection to pay for 
  4.1   documented marginal costs that the public body incurs as a 
  4.2   result of the additional connection. 
  4.3      (e) If interactive television is used to conduct a regular, 
  4.4   special, or emergency meeting, the public body shall provide 
  4.5   notice of the regular meeting location and notice of any site 
  4.6   where a member of the public body will be participating in the 
  4.7   meeting by interactive television.  The timing and method of 
  4.8   providing notice must be as described in subdivision 1c.