1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to openness in government; expanding the 
  1.3             legislative open meeting law to cover caucuses and 
  1.4             conference committee negotiations; amending Minnesota 
  1.5             Statutes 1998, section 3.055, subdivision 1. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 3.055, 
  1.8   subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  1.9      Subdivision 1.  [MEETINGS TO BE OPEN.] (a) Meetings of the 
  1.10  legislature shall be open to the public, including sessions of 
  1.11  the senate, sessions of the house of representatives, joint 
  1.12  sessions of the senate and the house of representatives, and 
  1.13  meetings of a standing committee, committee division, 
  1.14  subcommittee, conference committee, or legislative commission~~,~~ 
  1.15  ~~but not including a caucus of the members of any of those bodies~~ 
  1.16  ~~from the same house and political party nor a delegation of~~ 
  1.17  ~~legislators representing a geographic area or political~~ 
  1.18  ~~subdivision~~.  For purposes of this ~~section~~ paragraph, a meeting 
  1.19  occurs when a quorum is present and action is taken regarding a 
  1.20  matter within the jurisdiction of the body. 
  1.21     (b) Meetings of caucuses of legislators must be open to the 
  1.22  public, including a caucus of the members of a body listed in 
  1.23  paragraph (a) from the same political party, so long as the 
  1.24  caucus consists of at least nine legislators and a quorum of the 
  1.25  caucus is present.  Notwithstanding this paragraph, a caucus of 
  2.1   members of the senate or house of representatives from the same 
  2.2   political party may be closed to discuss matters listed in 
  2.3   section 471.705, subdivision 1d, paragraphs (b), clause (1); 
  2.4   (c); and (d). 
  2.5      (c) In addition to the openness requirements imposed on 
  2.6   conference committees by paragraph (a), from the time a 
  2.7   conference committee is appointed until it is disbanded, any 
  2.8   communication between senate and house members of the conference 
  2.9   committee or senate and house of representatives staff members 
  2.10  assigned to the conference committee that includes discussions 
  2.11  relating to the conference committee or the bill referred to the 
  2.12  conference committee must be open to the public.  This paragraph 
  2.13  does not apply, however, to: 
  2.14     (1) communication limited to the sole purpose of arranging 
  2.15  conference committee meeting times and schedules; or 
  2.16     (2) communication between or a meeting of legislative staff 
  2.17  members to prepare or revise bill drafts or to answer questions 
  2.18  or provide clarification on a proposal that has been put forward 
  2.19  in an open meeting so long as the staff communication or meeting 
  2.20  does not involve making a new offer from one house to the other. 
  2.21     (d) Each house shall provide by rule for posting notices of 
  2.22  meetings, recording proceedings, and making the recordings and 
  2.23  votes available to the public.