From Government Technology:

New York State Gov. Eliot Spitzer's Executive Order Number Three requires that each state agency and public authority shall, by March 1, "Submit to the secretary to the governor a plan that: (a) identifies all meetings of such agency or authority that are subject to the Open Meetings Law; and (b) specifies a timetable for ensuring that all such meetings are broadcast on the Internet." The order contains provisions for exemption, but other than that: "All agency and authority meetings that are subject to the Open Meetings Law shall be broadcast on the Internet commencing no later than July 1, 2007. Every agency and public authority shall submit a report to the secretary to the governor by December 31, 2007, setting forth the number of meetings webcast during the prior year, together with a summary of any comments received from the public regarding the webcasting, and any recommendations for changes or improvements to the program."

Meanwhile, Indiana awaits the closing of the serial meeting loophole. See the Indiana Law Blog here.

From the Noblesville Ledger:

The Cicero Town Council violated Indiana's Open Door Law by interviewing engineering firms in closed-door sessions, according to town attorney John Culp.

Steve Key, legal counsel for the Hoosier State Press Association, agreed. "That should not have been done in an executive session. They were wrong."

The Open Door Law, he explained, was written so the public's business is conducted in the open, allowing anyone interested to see what decision is made and for what reasons it was made.

The five-member town council held closed-door sessions, also called executive sessions, on Jan. 24 and Feb. 6 to interview firms interested in handling engineer- ing projects on a contractual basis.

The Open Door Law does allow a governing body to receive information about and interview prospective employees in closed-door sessions. However, the attorney general said in 1997 that contractors are not employees so interviews and information-gathering sessions about them must be done at a public session.

A later report from the same paper shows the importance of legal research:

Town attorney John Culp is blaming himself for Cicero Town Council violating Indiana's Open Door Law by interviewing engineering firms in two closed-door sessions.

"I thought it was alright to go ahead and interview in executive sessions," Culp told the board at its meeting Tuesday night.

The five-member council held closed-door sessions, also called executive sessions, on Jan. 24 and Feb. 6 to interview firms interested in handling engineering projects on a contractual basis. Indiana's Open Door law allows executive sessions to interview prospective employees. Contractors, however, are not considered employees.

Culp said the council asked in advance if executive sessions would be legal, but when the attorney became ill he was unable to research the answer.

actually, i am quite impressed by this Steve Culp's willingness to take responsibility for Cicero's actions.