NCUA suggests two changes to Sunshine Act

ALEXANDRIA-NCUA wrote the Federal Communications Commission in response to their questions regarding updating and revising An Interpretive Guide to the Government in the Sunshine Act, published in 1978. First, NCUA said the law should not constrain informal discussion of agency matters among board members. Under the Sunshine Act, a meeting of the number of board members required for the board to take action on behalf of the agency must take place in public or be exempt from observation. NCUA Board members, being a three-member board, cannot meet informally, because two constitutes a quorum. “A simple discussion and exchange of views between two NCUA Board members could result in a consensus, which could constitute a meeting under the Sunshine Act.” the letter read. “While Congress was aware of the peculiar problems the Sunshine Act would impose on agencies in which two members constitute a quorum, it offered little in the way of guidance for such agencies.” Additionally, the act should not require routine reviews of transcripts or minutes. “It is labor intensive and inefficient to review meeting transcripts of minutes when there has been no public request to obtain them,” the letter explained. NCUA receives few inquiries for transcripts of minutes of closed board meetings, according to the letter, though non-exempt information is available at the agency’s Web site usually within 24 hours of the meeting.