19257_Authority_June_2026

municipalauthorities.org │ 21 of business to the pre- meeting agenda. - Second, the agency members must vote on a motion to invoke the Majority Vote Clause to amend the agenda to add the matter of business for official action. If the motion to amend the agenda passes by majority vote, then the agency can proceed to consider the matter of business. - Third, the agency may take official action on the matter of business. - Fourth, following the meeting, enhanced notice and record keeping requirements apply. On the first business day following the meeting, the agency must post the amended agenda in all of the places where the pre- meeting agenda is required to be posted. 65 Pa. C.S. §712.1(e). From the public meeting that was at issue in this case, the conduct of the Parkland School District Board provides an example of how the Majority Vote Clause can be used during a public meeting. First, a board member introduced a motion under Section 712.1(e) to amend the meeting’s agenda to include a vote on whether to approve a collective bargaining agreement. The board member explained that the collective bargaining agreement had not appeared on the published agenda because the union members had voted on the collective bargaining agreement earlier that same day. The collective bargaining agreement included an annual salary increase for approximately 680 members. Next, the school board voted to approve the motion to add the item to the agenda and updated the agenda to reflect the addition. Then, the Board voted to approve the collective bargaining agreement. The decision by the Supreme Court has validated these actions by the Parkland School District Board as a proper way to invoke the Majority Vote Clause exception to the 24-hour Notice Rule. Importantly, the Supreme Court provided further clarification about when and how agencies may apply these exceptions by highlighting similarities and differences between the four exceptions. Under the first three exceptions for emergency business, de minimis business, and business arising during the meeting, a majority vote to amend the pre- meeting agenda is not required. Since the Majority Vote Clause requires an amendment to the pre-meeting agenda, the amended agenda must be swiftly posted for the sake of maintaining accountability and transparency. The Supreme Court emphasized that the exceptions for de minimis business and business arising during the meeting can only be invoked when the application of the 24-hour Notice Rule is impractical because the agency was not aware of the matter 24 hours prior to the meeting. In contrast, the emergency exception can be invoked even if the emergency was known to the agency more than 24 hours prior to the meeting. The Majority Vote Clause does not require the matter at hand to be an emergency or de minimis, and there is no time constraint concerning when the agency became aware of the matter. t he recent recognition of the m aJority v ote c Lause excePtion WiLL Provide fLexiBiLity for agencies that WouLd otherWise Be unaBLe to take officiaL action on timeLy and imPortant Business f or the PuBLic g ood . Continued on page 65.