Commission; meetings; quorum; orders

(1) Within ten days after appointment, the commissioners shall meet at their office in Lincoln, Nebraska, and enter upon the duties of their office.

(2) A majority of the commission shall constitute a quorum to transact business, and one vacancy shall not impair the right of the remaining commissioners to exercise all the powers of the commission, except that two commissioners shall constitute a quorum to hear and determine any appeals or petitions.

(3) Any investigation, inquiry, or hearing held or undertaken by the commission may be held or undertaken by a single commissioner in those appeals designated for hearing pursuant to section 77-5015.02 .

(4) All investigations, inquiries, hearings, and decisions of a single commissioner and every order made by a single commissioner shall be deemed to be the order of the commission, except as provided in subsection (6) of section 77-5015.02 . The full commission, on an application made within thirty days after the date of an order, may grant a rehearing and determine de novo any decisions of or orders made by the commission. The commission, on an application made within thirty days after the date of an order issued after a hearing by a single commissioner, except for an order dismissing an appeal or petition for failure of the appellant or petitioner to appear at a hearing on the merits, shall grant a rehearing on the merits before the commission. The thirty-day filing period for appeals under subsection (2) of section 77-5019 shall be tolled while a motion for rehearing is pending.

(5) All hearings or proceedings of the commission shall be open to the public.

(6) The Open Meetings Act applies only to hearings or proceedings of the commission held pursuant to the rulemaking authority of the commission.