Act 65 of 2021 amends the Sunshine Act to require political subdivisions to make available in advance to the public the proposed agenda for any governmental meeting.
Act 65 amends Section 709 of the Sunshine Act (relating to the giving of public notice) to require every political subdivision to do all the following:
- Post the meeting agenda on the political subdivision’s website at least 24 hours prior to a meeting, and the agenda must include a list of each matter that may be considered at the meeting. This only applies if the municipality has a “publicly accessible internet website” and does not mandate a borough create one.
- A borough council will be limited to consider only the items on the posted agenda, except in limited circumstances such as a genuine emergency or if the council wants to amend the agenda.
- Physically post the agenda at the meeting location as well as at the principal office of the political subdivision; and
- Distribute copies of the agenda to all members of the public in attendance.
These new rules would not apply for conference or executive sessions.
PSAB worked with other municipal associations to successfully amend the intent of the original bill which would have imposed unreasonable unfunded mandates on our membership. PSAB believes the final version of the bill is exceedingly improved compared to the original version.
Click here to read an article from the August Borough News magazine.
Click here to watch recording on the amendment developed by the Office of Open Records.