Order Allowing Public Meeting by Zoom Set to Expire by End of June
Public meetings are expected to return to in-person gatherings a few weeks before legislators plan to return to the state Capitol.
Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts said last Tuesday that he plans to extend an executive order allowing local governments to meet using video-conferencing services through the end of June, but he said does not plan to renew the order after that deadline.
“Those government entities that are using that right now with regards to their meetings are going to need to be thinking about, over the course of the next six weeks or so, how they are going to change that going forward in July,” Ricketts said.
The Nebraska Legislature plans to resume its session July 20, and Speaker Jim Scheer said he believes that the coronavirus should have peaked by then in Nebraska.
Many local governments have used Zoom, Facebook Live and other services to conduct business remotely while inviting the public to participate.
The Nebraska Public Meetings Act delineates certain entities that may meet using videoconferencing and conference calls. The Nebraska Attorney General’s Office outlines the provision as allowing such meetings by:
• Various bodies of state government including state agencies, boards, commissions, councils and committees, together with their advisory committees;
• Organizations created under the Interlocal Cooperation Act, the Joint Public Agency Act or the Municipal Cooperative Financing Act;
• Governing bodies of public power districts with a chartered territory of more than one county in this state;
• Governing bodies of public power and irrigation districts with a chartered territory of more than one county in this state;
• Boards of educational service units;
• Educational Service Unit Coordinating Council;
• Governing bodies of risk management pools or their advisory committees that are organized in accordance with the Intergovernmental Risk Management Act;
• Community college boards of governors.
Find more guidance at ago.nebraska.gov/open-meetings#meetings-call.
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