ELVIS Committee told remote town meeting bill is dead for the session

WAYLAND — August 6, 2024 — Wayland's remote town meeting push stalls on Beacon Hill, committee pivots to pilots. The ELVIS Committee was told Tuesday that House Bill 2053, filed by Rep. Carmine Gentile to legalize remote participation, has not moved since April and is "functionally dead" along with two companion bills after the formal session ended July 31. Legislative aide Robbie Simon blamed "ignorance, not opposition" from House leadership. North Andover moderator Mark DeSalvo told a June stakeholder Zoom the campaign had failed to identify a "must-solve problem" urban legislators would recognize, but said the attorney general has blessed ADA accommodation as a rationale for individual remote voters without new legislation. Town moderator Miranda warned added assistant moderators would be needed; new Select Board member Doug Levine has agreed to help convene the bills' sponsors.