Senate bill would require all state, local public bodies to stream meetings

• State Senator Tyler McCaughn said of the “The People’s Access Act” that “it’s only right to open the doors to public meetings.”

The Senate Government Structure committee moved a bill forward late last week to improve transparency in Mississippi state and local governments. However, the legislation is expected to meet stiff opposition in the House.  

The bill, SB 2259, known as “The People’s Access Act,” requires official meetings of any public body to be broadcast via livestream video applications. Additionally, agendas and supporting documents would also be required to be broadcast to the public.

The four-page bill outlines that the votes taken at teleconference or video meetings should be “clearly audible or visible” to the public. Meeting videos, the bill continues, should be posted on the front page of the public body’s website, and shared with the Department of Finance and Administration. DFA, then, is to maintain a comprehensive list of website streaming links of all public bodies for public use.

The exceptions to this requirement would be executive sessions and meetings lawfully closed to the public.

Committee Chairman State Senator Tyler McCaughn (R) said, “It’s only right to open the doors to public meetings.”

McCaughn co-authored the bill with Senators Bart Williams (R) and Nicole Boyd (R). Senator Boyd said the bill will make meetings of public bodies at the state and local level more accessible for Mississippians who reside outside of the Jackson area.

“This [bill} makes sure that if you live in Oxford, like my constituents, or you’re down in Hattiesburg, and you want to see what that agency is doing, you’ll be able to look at it live online and livestream,” she said, adding a similar bill has passed the Senate “two or three times,” but has stalled in the lower chamber.

The Senate broadcasts all its committee meetings at the Capitol, but the House does not. At a press conference in November, House Rules Chairman Fred Shanks (R) said there has been no discussions of livestreaming their meetings. 

For seven sessions, State Rep. Jeramey Anderson (D) has introduced legislation that would require House Committees to post agendas a day before the meetings. His effort has never made it out of the Rules Committee.

Shanks said many of the House committee meetings are “pretty quick” and held “last minute,” occurring often after floor sessions. Giving 24-hour notice of a meeting, “would be pretty hard to do,” he said.

Both the House and Senate stream their floor proceedings.

If the measure is enacted, cities would be required to comply by January 1, 2027, towns by July 1, 2027, and villages and hamlets by January 1, 2028.

The full Senate could take up the bill as early as this week. Should it pass, the measure would then be transmitted to the House for further consideration.