The committee approved a policy change to House Bill 2209, which would amend state statute 25, section 301 to allow members of public bodies to participate in meetings remotely from private residences without requiring those remote locations to be open to the public.

Representative Lay, who presented the bill, said the change would adjust current statutory language that requires every remote site to be ‘‘open and accessible to the public’’ and instead permit a member to participate from a private residence when necessary, citing safety concerns. Lay told members he was ‘‘open to exploring’’ additional guardrails but that the amendment addresses instances where public access at a remote site is impractical or raises safety issues.

Committee members asked whether the statute should include limits on frequency of remote participation. Representative Shaw asked if any guardrails exist now to limit how often a member may participate remotely; Lay said he was not aware of such limits and that he would be open to discussing them. Members adopted the policy committee substitute and voted to report the bill out by a 14-1 margin.