"On Wednesday, the Utah House Public Utilities and Technology Committee gave its OK to a bill that essentially dismantles the 20-year-old Government Records Access and Management Act (GRAMA). As The Salt Lake Tribune reports, the bill, House Bill 477, would strip the legislative intent statement from GRAMA, which states that privacy concerns would be balanced with the public’s right to know; requiring those who appeal a records denial to make the case for disclosure by a “preponderance of the evidence” rather than submitting to a balancing test of the public’s right to know verus privacy concerns; makes text messages, instant-message chats, video chats and voice mails private records; fee waivers would be based on whether it was in the best interest of “taxpayer resources” to do so, rather than whether the person is seeking the records for a public benefit; and would allow for the inclusion of overhead, salary and other costs associated with filling a request; and make much of the Legislature’s paperwork exempt from disclosure.And those are just a few of the things it does. ...
The real intent appears to be to punish journalists and others who dare to use GRAMA to hold public officials accountable for what they do — or do not. ...In the end, they are punishing the people they claim to represent and watch out for as they work on Capitol Hill. GRAMA, like all open-government laws, was drafted to allow the public to get the information they need to know if government is acting on their behalf. In this session, legislators made a big stink about how America is a “constitutional republic” rather than a democracy. What they are forgetting is that under our form of government, the people have hired them to do the work of goverment, and the people have a right to call them into account. To do that, they need access to public records. As James Madison wisely wrote, “A popular government without popular information or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy or perhaps both.” ...
Update: HB 477 passed the Utah House 61-12. It is now in the Senate, where Sen. Lyle Hillyard is the sponsor. The Senate number is (801)538-1035. Hillyard can be contacted at lhillyard@utahsenate.org."
The entire article, with commenting, is at http://blogs.spjnetwork.org/foi/?p=1079
Utah: This bill has been put on the
fast track, and is already being considered by your own state senator-- contact him/her now to make your voice heard.
Remember, "voting turnout and activism means spreading the word!"
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