Legislation pulls the shades down on government: Public deserves sunshine
HB 3013 by Rep. Bolton and SB 989 by Sen. Wentworth are Public Information Limitation Bills
Sunshine is the best disinfectant. Good Government should have nothing to hide and nothing to fear – if parents or taxpayers want records, they should be readily available to them at minimal cost. When school districts, cities or counties refuse to provide information or stonewall citizens’ requests for information, it could be symptomatic that they have something to hide.
What the bill does:
- Legislation allows the governmental body to determine what they consider “a reasonable limit on the amount of staff and personnel time that it is required to devote to providing copies of information” before charging citizens for the information
- The bill establishes a minimum limit of 36 hours per requestor in a 12-month period
- Requests in the name of a minor will be included in the cumulative amount of time spent responding to requests by the minor's parent, guardian, or other person having lawful control of the minor. (AFP’s position – any and all records request by a parent on their child’s records should be immediately accessible to the parent.)
- Once a requestor exceeds the 36 hours (or the amount of time established by a governmental body beyond the minimum), the governmental body then charges for all materials, staff and personnel time, and overhead for further request.
AFP opposes this bill because:
- Government works for the people. This bill protects government entities, not citizens.
- This bill makes government less open and transparent to the people and is not a good government bill.
- Governmental bodies are given carte blanche to establish a reasonable limit. That term is vague and subjective.
- This bill provides an incentive for governmental bodies to take more time than necessary to fulfill a request.
- A 36-hour limit will prove insufficient for investigative work. In the case of a governmental body that is involved in wrong-doing, this bill makes it far more difficult to get all of the information necessary.
- Allows governmental bodies to stonewall requestors and provides a cover for the governmental entity not to operate in good faith.
- This bill puts the power in the hands of the body that is being scrutinized.
- Paying for personnel and overhead would be prohibitive to most individuals.
- This bill, aimed at those who (allegedly) make frivolous requests, punishes those who are legitimately seeking valid information.
- HB 3013 imposes another layer of accounting costs on every single public information, open records or Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) request that is processed.
One of AFP’s citizen watchdogs has been targeted by her school district which has repeatedly violated FOIA and attempted to stonewall her requests for information on her son and the ISD expenditures. Now, a lawsuit has been filed -- by school lobbyists – against the school district, in another attempt to give this ISD some ‘cover’ for their bad behavior. This legislation would sanction the district’s stonewalling this mother and other citizens.
May 1, 2007
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Peggy
Venable was the White House Liaison
for the US Department of Education
the first term of the Reagan Administration.
She is currently Texas director of
Americans for Prosperity. AFP is
proud to partner with Texans for Texas.
Americans
for Prosperity Foundation educates
and AFP mobilizes grassroots citizens
committed to limiting the size and scope
of government
and preserving individual freedom. AFP
focuses on policies and how they impact
the average American's ability to achieve
prosperity.
Peggy
M. Venable, Texas Director
Americans for Prosperity and AFP Foundation - (formerly CSE Foundation)
807 Brazos St, #210 ; Austin , TX 78701-9996
Phone:
512/476-5905; fax: 512/476-5906
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