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1    AN ACT concerning government.

2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, 
3represented in the General Assembly:

4    Section 5. The Open Meetings Act is amended by changing 
5Section 7 as follows:

6    (5 ILCS 120/7)
7    Sec. 7. Attendance by a means other than physical 
8presence.
9    (a) If a quorum of the members of the public body is 
10physically present as required by Section 2.01, a majority of 
11the public body may allow a member of that body to attend the 
12meeting by other means if the member is prevented from 
13physically attending because of: (i) personal illness or 
14disability; (ii) employment purposes or the business of the 
15public body; (iii) a family or other emergency; or (iv) 
16unexpected childcare obligations; or (v) performance of active 
17military duty as a service member. "Other means" is by video or 
18audio conference. As used in this subsection:    
19    "Active military duty" has the meaning given to "active 
20service" in Section 1-10 of the Service Member Employment and 
21Reemployment Rights Act.
22    "Service member" means a resident of Illinois who is a 
23member of any component of the U.S. Armed Forces or the 
 
 
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1National Guard of any state, the District of Columbia, a 
2commonwealth, or a territory of the United States.    
3    (b) If a member wishes to attend a meeting by other means, 
4the member must notify the recording secretary or clerk of the 
5public body before the meeting unless advance notice is 
6impractical.
7    (c) A majority of the public body may allow a member to 
8attend a meeting by other means only in accordance with and to 
9the extent allowed by rules adopted by the public body. The 
10rules must conform to the requirements and restrictions of 
11this Section, may further limit the extent to which attendance 
12by other means is allowed, and may provide for the giving of 
13additional notice to the public or further facilitate public 
14access to meetings. 
15    (d) The limitations of this Section shall not apply to (i) 
16closed meetings of (A) public bodies with statewide 
17jurisdiction, (B) Illinois library systems with jurisdiction 
18over a specific geographic area of more than 4,500 square 
19miles, (C) municipal transit districts with jurisdiction over 
20a specific geographic area of more than 4,500 square miles, or 
21(D) local workforce innovation areas with jurisdiction over a 
22specific geographic area of more than 4,500 square miles or 
23(ii) open or closed meetings of State advisory boards or 
24bodies that do not have authority to make binding 
25recommendations or determinations or to take any other 
26substantive action. State advisory boards or bodies, public 
 
 
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1bodies with statewide jurisdiction, Illinois library systems 
2with jurisdiction over a specific geographic area of more than 
34,500 square miles, municipal transit districts with 
4jurisdiction over a specific geographic area of more than 
54,500 square miles, and local workforce investment areas with 
6jurisdiction over a specific geographic area of more than 
74,500 square miles, however, may permit members to attend 
8meetings by other means only in accordance with and to the 
9extent allowed by specific procedural rules adopted by the 
10body. For the purposes of this Section, "local workforce 
11innovation area" means any local workforce innovation area or 
12areas designated by the Governor pursuant to the federal 
13Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act or its reauthorizing 
14legislation. 
15    (e) Subject to the requirements of Section 2.06 but 
16notwithstanding any other provision of law, an open or closed 
17meeting subject to this Act may be conducted by audio or video 
18conference, without the physical presence of a quorum of the 
19members, so long as the following conditions are met:
20        (1) the Governor or the Director of the Illinois 
21 Department of Public Health has issued a disaster 
22 declaration related to public health concerns because of a 
23 disaster as defined in Section 4 of the Illinois Emergency 
24 Management Agency Act, and all or part of the jurisdiction 
25 of the public body is covered by the disaster area;
26        (2) the head of the public body as defined in 
 
 
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1 subsection (e) of Section 2 of the Freedom of Information 
2 Act determines that an in-person meeting or a meeting 
3 conducted under this Act is not practical or prudent 
4 because of a disaster;
5        (3) all members of the body participating in the 
6 meeting, wherever their physical location, shall be 
7 verified and can hear one another and can hear all 
8 discussion and testimony;
9        (4) for open meetings, members of the public present 
10 at the regular meeting location of the body can hear all 
11 discussion and testimony and all votes of the members of 
12 the body, unless attendance at the regular meeting 
13 location is not feasible due to the disaster, including 
14 the issued disaster declaration, in which case the public 
15 body must make alternative arrangements and provide notice 
16 pursuant to this Section of such alternative arrangements 
17 in a manner to allow any interested member of the public 
18 access to contemporaneously hear all discussion, 
19 testimony, and roll call votes, such as by offering a 
20 telephone number or a web-based link;
21        (5) at least one member of the body, chief legal 
22 counsel, or chief administrative officer is physically 
23 present at the regular meeting location, unless unfeasible 
24 due to the disaster, including the issued disaster 
25 declaration; and
26        (6) all votes are conducted by roll call, so each 
 
 
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1 member's vote on each issue can be identified and 
2 recorded.
3        (7) Except in the event of a bona fide emergency, 48 
4 hours' notice shall be given of a meeting to be held 
5 pursuant to this Section. Notice shall be given to all 
6 members of the public body, shall be posted on the website 
7 of the public body, and shall also be provided to any news 
8 media who has requested notice of meetings pursuant to 
9 subsection (a) of Section 2.02 of this Act. If the public 
10 body declares a bona fide emergency:
11            (A) Notice shall be given pursuant to subsection 
12 (a) of Section 2.02 of this Act, and the presiding 
13 officer shall state the nature of the emergency at the 
14 beginning of the meeting.
15            (B) The public body must comply with the verbatim 
16 recording requirements set forth in Section 2.06 of 
17 this Act.
18        (8) Each member of the body participating in a meeting 
19 by audio or video conference for a meeting held pursuant 
20 to this Section is considered present at the meeting for 
21 purposes of determining a quorum and participating in all 
22 proceedings.
23        (9) In addition to the requirements for open meetings 
24 under Section 2.06, public bodies holding open meetings 
25 under this subsection (e) must also keep a verbatim record 
26 of all their meetings in the form of an audio or video 
 
 
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1 recording. Verbatim records made under this paragraph (9) 
2 shall be made available to the public under, and are 
3 otherwise subject to, the provisions of Section 2.06.
4        (10) The public body shall bear all costs associated 
5 with compliance with this subsection (e).
6(Source: P.A. 103-311, eff. 7-28-23.)

7    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon 
8becoming law.