State lawmakers are considering permanently adopting rule changes implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic which allow more lenience in governmental bodies holding open meetings virtually rather than in person.
“I think the changes the Legislature made to the Open Meeting Act were successful on two fronts,” Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat (R-Oklahoma City) said in a statement. “The changes allowed government at state and local levels to continue to meet publicly and do their jobs while still following coronavirus-related health and safety protocols. The changes also brought public meetings online increasing transparency of government at the state and local level by giving the public even more access to observe the actions of public bodies.”
“Working families have a lot going on and don’t always have time to attend a meeting in person of the city council, the school board, or the county commission. But those local entities make decisions routinely that have a huge impact on the daily lives of those same families. I think by modernizing the Open Meeting Act and preserving the ability of public bodies to give the public access to meetings online is a positive and the Legislature should consider making these changes permanent,” Treat said.
At an interim study sponsored by Treat at the Capitol Wednesday, Bethany Mayor K.P. Westmoreland testified that the changes have been extremely beneficial for the safety of his city's government.
"I believe this is something that should become a common tool that cities can use to make sure elected officials are able to participate and citizens are able to have the representation they deserve," Westmoreland said. "My council had two members with compromised immune systems and two senior adults that we needed to protect during this time, so this truly did help to allow them to participate."
Journalists from the Oklahoma Press Association, Oklahoma Watch, and NonDoc also testified at the study. They mostly said the rule changes have been successful, though there are some kinks, drawbacks, and needed reforms. NonDoc editor-in-chief Tres Savage recounted a recent meeting where an official attended a hybrid in-person/remote meeting virtually and disconnected before a key vote.
"Even the people in the press who were there could not walk up to her afterwards and ask her, 'Wait, what happened?'" Savage said. "If you guys block a vote, you walk out of a chamber and we can follow you. In a videoconference, a Zoom conference, a teleconference, that doesn't happen."
In a statement, Baylee Lakey, Gov. Kevin Stitt's communications director, said Stitt "appreciates the Senate's interim study to consider modernizing the Open Meetings Act and is committed to working with the Legislature to ensure all state agencies, boards and commissions remain transparent and accountable."
