Senate Bill 6000 amends existing law in RCW 42.30.070 and 42.30.230, changing procedures under the Open Public Meetings Act rather than creating a new crime or penalty. The bill requires governing bodies to set regular meeting times by ordinance, resolution, bylaws, or other required rule, allows regular meetings to be held outside an agency’s territorial boundaries unless otherwise provided, and requires that a regular meeting falling on a holiday be held the next business day. In specified emergency situations (fire, flood, earthquake, or other emergency requiring expedited action), the presiding officer may change a meeting site, hold a remote meeting without a physical location, or limit public physical attendance, and the chapter’s notice requirements are suspended for that emergency. The amendments also state it is not a violation for a majority of members to travel together or gather for nonregular or nonspecial meeting purposes provided they take no action as defined in the chapter, and during declared natural disaster emergencies a majority may attend briefings, conduct visual inspections, or attend press conferences without violating the chapter so long as they take no final action. The bill alters procedures for meetings after a declared emergency by allowing a public agency that determines in-person meetings are not reasonably safe to hold remote meetings without a physical location or meetings with limited public physical attendance. Members may appear by phone or other electronic means that allow real-time verbal communication, and the agency must provide a no-additional-cost, real-time listening option for the public (for example local cable television or internet/electronic means) and include instructions for accessing that option in the meeting notice. No action may be taken at such meetings unless the required public listening option is provided, except for authorized executive sessions or actions authorized under subsection (7). Meetings held under this section are deemed open and public. The bill also permits governing bodies that held some regular meetings remotely prior to March 1, 2020 to continue doing so without a declared emergency if the public listening option is provided. For local governments located within a state or federally declared natural disaster emergency, the bill permits governing bodies to take action at remote or limited-public-attendance meetings on items directly related to the declared emergency, including authorizing emergency measures, approving emergency ordinances, approving spending or contracts for disaster response or recovery, and approving agreements with state or federal agencies for disaster response or recovery. The amendments define “remote meeting” as members appearing by phone or other electronic means that allow real-time verbal communication. Important terms and context are not included in the extracted text: the definition of “final action,” the chapter’s standard notice requirements that are referenced, definitions of terms such as “regular meeting,” “special meeting,” and “declared emergency,” the existing full text of the amended sections for comparison, and any effective date for these amendments are not provided.

If enacted, the bill makes it easier for public governing bodies to move or hold meetings remotely and to act quickly during declared emergencies. Local governments in an emergency can vote remotely on disaster-related measures (like emergency spending, contracts, and agreements), majorities can attend briefings and inspections without triggering a violation so long as they take no final action, and agencies that held regular remote meetings before March 1, 2020 may keep doing so. These changes will likely speed disaster response and give officials more flexibility to meet and inspect damage without waiting for formal in-person sessions. The most affected parties are local and other public agencies, elected board members, and the public who listen in. Agencies will need to provide a free, real-time listening option (for example cable broadcast or an internet stream) and put clear access instructions in meeting notices, creating modest new costs and administrative duties to ensure compliance. At the same time, the ability for presiding officers to suspend some notice requirements in acute emergencies may reduce procedural delays but also raises transparency and legal uncertainty, especially because key terms like “final action” and the exact notice rules being suspended are not defined in the provided text.