Who is a member?
Our members are the local governments of Massachusetts and their elected and appointed leadership.
The Legislature has enacted and sent to the governor a bill to extend authorizations for local boards and committees to hold public meetings remotely or in a hybrid format through June of 2027.
The bill would also extend the remote meeting option for representative town meetings and permit reduced quorums for open town meetings.
The remote and hybrid authorizations under the state’s open meeting law were created as emergency accommodations during the COVID-19 pandemic and had been extended due to their success, but were due to expire on March 31.
“The MMA and local leaders across the state greatly appreciate the House and Senate’s quick action this week to pass a bill continuing these essential and effective public meeting options,” said MMA Executive Director Adam Chapdelaine. “These allowances are critical for conducting the business of municipal government in the 21st century. Over the past five years, they have increased transparency and accountability and boosted public participation and confidence.”
Gov. Maura Healey has been supportive of these local options, and included a provision in her re-introduced Municipal Empowerment Act to make the provisions permanent in state law, something that has been a priority for the MMA.
The MMA estimates that the state’s 351 cities and towns have a combined total of more than 10,000 boards, committees and commissions, with the overwhelming majority of them filled by volunteers.
“These local boards have worked to conduct their meetings in the way that works best for their community,” Chapdelaine added, “and this flexibility is why this provision has proven so successful.”
Last month, the MMA joined with other organizations involved with local government to offer strong support for legislation to preserve the current authorizations to hold remote and hybrid public meetings in Massachusetts. Earlier this month, a group of business and housing groups also weighed in with the Legislature to ensure the current authorizations continued.