Do not cancel your Zoom account, digital conferences are right here to remain | The Newest from WDEL Information
Even as we return to pre-pandemic life and see more people in person, don’t expect virtual meetings to go away.
Senator Stephanie Hansen’s bill, approved by the Delaware Senate, would allow hundreds of public institutions, including school boards, councils, and commissions, to offer a virtual option.
“In the past we have seen that it is sometimes difficult to get a quorum of people together for many boards and commissions. It is especially difficult for people who are part of our disabled community to participate in these boards. This gives us another one now really effective tool that we saw in action last year and that we all had to learn. We were all part of this great experiment and learned how to do it virtually meet. We learned teams, and we did zoom and Learned WebEx, and we even host parties and conferences and virtual meetings. We’re getting a lot better at it because we had to. “
State Senator Stephanie Hansen (D-Middletown)
She said this should make the work of panels and commissions more effective.
“If you did not meet in person, your presence was not quorate and you could not vote. Many of our bodies and commissions would pass months and months without actually being able to hold a formal meeting with the quorum.” and to choose, and that will help immensely. “
Senate Bill 94 does not require any boards or commissions to offer a virtual option unless a member with a disability requests reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disability Act. Federal law already addresses the need for reasonable accommodation in these circumstances. Hansen said she had never considered requiring a virtual component from any of the boards and commissions.
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“There are different levels of technical expertise and equipment available to municipalities, commissions, bodies and different governments. Since there is such diversity outside of a public health emergency or state of emergency, it didn’t seem fair to demand.” virtual meetings, “she told WDEL.
Outside the state of emergency, SB 94 requires every board or committee that meets virtually to have a physical anchorage so that the public can attend in person if they wish.
“When at least one of the board members, the commission or the council is present, so that the members of the public have a place where they can see what is going on and hear what is going on. Because we found that there too to have.” There are areas in our state where broadband is not of a quality that allows for great video conferencing and virtual meetings that sometimes people cannot attend. “
During the pandemic, the Middletown Democrat said she had seen an increase in public participation in the government due to virtual meetings.
“I’ve held three major energy and climate forums since January and we’ve had over 200 people attending those forums. I can tell you it’s difficult to get a large group of people to actually get into their cars get up and go somewhere to be part of a quorum or a conference or something where now we have the opportunity to just jump on, we’ve seen this often been very helpful in getting the public more involved and understanding what is going on and now to be part of their government. “
The measure was passed in the Senate on Thursday, May 13, 2021, 19-2 against Senators Darius Brown (D-Wilmington) and Colin Bonini (R-Dover). The measure now goes to the house.
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