Bill H.4787

FILED ON: 6/14/2024

HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 4787

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
(2023-2024)

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An Act relative to access to local journalism.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. Chapter 4 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out Section 13 and inserting in place thereof the following:-

Section 13. (a) As used in this section, ''statewide website'' shall mean a website established and maintained as a repository for legal notices and operated as a cooperative effort of a majority of Massachusetts newspapers that distribute newspapers to subscribers residing in the commonwealth.

(b) For purposes of this section, "newspaper of local or general circulation" shall mean a publication that circulates among the general public, publishes news of a general character of general interest to the public such as news of political, religious, commercial, or social affairs, and one that publishes legal notices in the community in which it is located or the area to which it distributes.

(c) If a person, corporation, state agency, including its political subdivisions, a state authority, including its political subdivisions, municipality, including its political subdivisions, or other legal entity is required by a statute, ordinance, by-law or judicial order to publish a legal notice in a newspaper or newspaper of general circulation, the person, corporation, agency, authority, municipality or other legal entity shall publish said notice in a newspaper which shall ensure that the legal notice appears in: (i) a newspaper's print publication; (ii) on the newspaper's website; and (iii) on a statewide website that may be maintained as a repository for such notices; provided, however, that if a newspaper does not maintain its own website, publication on a statewide website and reference to the statewide website in the print publication notice shall satisfy the requirement of publication on the newspaper's website.

(d) When publishing legal notices on a newspaper's website or a statewide website, the operator of the website shall:

(i) ensure access by the public to the website at all times, other than during website maintenance or due to causes beyond the operator's control;

(ii) make the full text of legal notices available in a searchable format for the period of time that the legal notice is required to be posted;

(iii) ensure that the website substantially complies with the accessibility standards of section 508 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended and codified at 29 U.S.C. section 794d;

(iv) provide access to view legal notices on the website, and to perform searches for legal notices on such websites, for no fee, and ensure that such notices may be viewed by the public without requiring registration or subscription; provided, that operators of newspaper websites may charge a fee for enhanced search and customized content delivery features;

(v) maintain an archive of legal notices that are no longer displayed on the website for at least 90 days;

(vi) charge no additional fee for publication on a website in excess of the fee for publishing the legal notice in the print newspaper;

(vii) include on the website homepage a prominent link to its public notice section; and

(viii) include in its public notice section a prominent link to the statewide public notice website (www.masspublicnotices.org).

(e) An error in a legal notice published on a newspaper's website or the statewide website that is the result of (i) an error of the website operator; or (ii) a temporary website outage or service interruption that prevents the publication or display of a legal notice on the website shall not constitute a defect in publication of the legal notice; provided, however, that the legal notice appears correctly in the newspaper's print publication and satisfies all other legal notice requirements.

(f) A municipality required by a statute, ordinance, by-law or judicial order to publish a legal notice in a newspaper or newspaper of general circulation shall also publish the legal notice on a community news website. For purposes of this paragraph, “community news website” shall mean a website substantially all of which is dedicated to local news coverage for the relevant municipality and surrounding municipalities that receives an average of not less than 500 unique visits per month. This requirement shall not apply to a municipality for which a community news website does not exist.

SECTION 2. Section 32 of chapter 40 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the word "town", in line 36, the following words:- and posted for a period of no less than 14 days on the town's municipal website, with a link to such notice shown in a prominent location on the home page.

SECTION 3. Said section 32 of said chapter 40, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after the word “newspapers,”, in line 43, the following words:- and posting for a period of no less than 14 days on the town’s municipal website,

SECTION 4. Section 5 of chapter 40A of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the word "newspaper", in line 140, the following words:- and on a municipal website, with a link to such notice shown in a prominent location on the home page,