1-1     By:  West                                             S.B. No. 1252
 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed March 11, 1999; March 11, 1999, read
 1-3     first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs;
 1-4     March 29, 1999, reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 8,
 1-5     Nays 0; March 29, 1999, sent to printer.)
 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-7                                   AN ACT
 1-8     relating to broadcasting public meetings over the Internet.
 1-9           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-10           SECTION 1.  Subchapter F, Chapter 551, Government Code, is
1-11     amended by adding Section 551.128 to read as follows:
1-12           Sec. 551.128.  INTERNET BROADCAST OF OPEN MEETING.  (a)  In
1-13     this section, "Internet" means the largest nonproprietary
1-14     cooperative public computer network, popularly known as the
1-15     Internet.
1-16           (b)  Subject to the requirements of this section, a
1-17     governmental body may broadcast an open meeting over the Internet.
1-18           (c)  A governmental body that broadcasts a meeting over the
1-19     Internet shall establish an Internet site and provide access to the
1-20     broadcast from that site.  The governmental body shall provide on
1-21     the Internet site the same notice of the meeting that the
1-22     governmental body is required to post under Subchapter C.  The
1-23     notice on the Internet must be posted within the time required for
1-24     posting notice under Subchapter C.
1-25           SECTION 2.  The subchapter heading to Subchapter F, Chapter
1-26     551, Government Code, is amended to read as follows:
1-27                SUBCHAPTER F.  MEETINGS USING [BY] TELEPHONE,
1-28          [CONFERENCE CALL OR] VIDEOCONFERENCE, OR INTERNET [CALL]
1-29           SECTION 3.  (a)  The Department of Information Resources
1-30     shall form a task force to determine whether:
1-31                 (1)  a governmental body can:
1-32                       (A)  receive real-time testimony from a person
1-33     watching the broadcast of a meeting of the governmental body over
1-34     the Internet; and
1-35                       (B)  provide a way for the public to comment to
1-36     the governmental body over the Internet on the issues discussed at
1-37     the meeting; and
1-38                 (2)  the audio and video signals broadcast over the
1-39     Internet can be of sufficient quality so that members of the public
1-40     watching the broadcast of the meeting can observe the demeanor and
1-41     hear the voice of each participant in the open portion of the
1-42     meeting.
1-43           (b)  The Department of Information Resources shall report its
1-44     findings to the legislature not later than September 1, 2000.
1-45           SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
1-46           SECTION 5.  The importance of this legislation and the
1-47     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
1-48     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
1-49     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
1-50     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
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