Bill > A523

This bill requires municipal governing bodies and boards of education to dedicate a portion of their open public meetings specifically for public comment, ensuring that sufficient time is allocated to hear from all members of the public who wish to speak on any issue they believe concerns residents. Each speaker will be allowed a minimum of three minutes to comment, and if the public comment period extends beyond the scheduled meeting time, any votes on the discussed topics will be postponed until the following meeting, at which point public comment will resume until everyone has had a chance to speak. This change amends existing law, which previously allowed these bodies to determine the length of the public comment portion themselves.