House Bill No. 1564 was sent to the State Senate last week with an amendment attached. The bill was first introduced last year to address the tax assessment valuations of factory-built modular homes.
State Rep. Jordan Harris, D-Philadelphia, sponsored an amendment to HB 1564 that clarifies the physical quorum exception under emergency circumstances.
The State House of Representatives fast-tracked and passed the Bill unanimously, expecting the Senate would act just as quickly toward approving the bill that addresses a clarification on tax assessment of modular homes, and would remove any question of holding a remote meeting during a declared state emergency.
State Sen. Scott Martin, R-Lancaster, said there’s no way to fast-track the bill, which would need to be taken up in the Senate’s Local Government and Appropriations committees and then brought to the full Senate floor.
“There’s things in the bill that there’s disagreement on. Certain industries might push back,” he was quoted as saying. “These are things that we have to get feedback on.”
Martin said the governor’s emergency declaration already provides public agencies with the flexibility to deliberate and take action remotely, as long as the deliberations and actions remain within the scope of day-to-day operations and emergency response.
Public agencies that hold meetings remotely to comply with social distancing measures are not in violation of the state open meetings law as long as the public is able to participate, according to The Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs and The Pennsylvania Office of Open Records.
Erik Arneson, director of the state Office of Open Records stated Gov. Tom Wolf’s coronavirus disaster declaration allows for public agencies to waive some of the formal requirements of the Pennsylvania Sunshine Act that would be detrimental to the fight against the virus.
In this case, the requirement that a quorum be physically together during meetings has been difficult to meet without compromising efforts to slow the spread of the virus.
“The whole point of the emergency declaration is to keep people physically distant from each other,” Arneson said. “So, I think that a common sense reading of the law would be that in that kind of an emergency, that the physical quorum could be waived and they could do it by video conference or teleconference.”
Most other public agencies are now deciding to do what West Easton already decided earlier in the month, when it announced it would conduct a public meeting remotely, if the pandemic restrictions weren’t lifted.
Despite the lack of specific wording found in actual legislation, communities are putting public safety over that of PA statutes that gives no guidance during a pandemic.
Pen Argyl will be using Zoom video conferencing software. The City of Easton will be live streaming, taking questions and comments by email. Hanover Borough Council held its first remote meeting Wednesday using Zoom.
I will be holding a Zoom Familiarization Meeting on April 4th at 1:00 pm, in order for Council members, staff, and residents to familiarize themselves with the Zoom platform. This will be held a week before the actual Council meeting on April 13th.
If you wish to attend the April 4th Zoom Meeting, CLICK HERE to send me an email. Provide your name and address in the body of the email.
Disclaimer: On January 4, 2016, the owner of WestEastonPA.com began serving on the West Easton Council following an election. Postings and all content found on this website are the opinions of Matthew A. Dees and may not necessarily represent the opinion of the governing body for The Borough of West Easton.
