• Clerk Brett Dreyfus

MERIDIAN TOWNSHIP - The Michigan House of Representative passed two new legislative bills that change the open meetings act in Michigan. HB 5193 and HB 5194 which refer to the open meetings act or O-M-A, will dictate when and where lawyers may be present in regards to town meetings.

Brett Dreyfus helped make a little more sense of the bill by saying,
"the proposed bill would actually prohibit meeting in closed session for anticipated lawsuits or anticipated settlements. So its only going to be valid for existing lawsuits or existing litigation."

H-B 5194 tightens up a loop hole that previously allowed people to reenact or re-do a vote. The new legislation also makes it so violations don't just disappear if something is brought to re-vote.

The general hope is that the meeting process will be streamlined and eliminate the volume of reenactments by holding members accountable for their votes.