There are few things on this Earth, and specifically this state, less popular than gutting the Open Public Records Act. According to the polls approximately 81 percent of voters, regardless of party, oppose the changes to OPRA proposed by Democrats, but if you think that’s going to stop them you haven’t lived here long enough.
When the initial plans to gut and mount OPRA were leaked earlier this year the blowback was immediate and intense. So intense and so immediate that Democrats pulled it off the agenda and vowed to spend some quality time thinking about what they’d done. Apparently the time for introspection is over and after some alone time Democratic leadership has come to the realization that they’d really like to run the government in secret. Hence, they’ve decided to charge ahead, with the approval of a number of Republicans, with the same gross legislation as before.
The legislative sales pitch for the original bill was to reform the system and make it easier for local governments to fulfill records requests without placing an undue burden on the municipalities. The reality is the want you to mind your own beeswax. The old bill was about limiting government transparency and the new bill is no better.
As outlined here in our editorial, the three most repugnant aspects of the bill have remained fully intact. They served voters a hot garbage sandwich, voters sent it back and Democratic leadership put it in a to go box. All the bad stuff is still in there, the onerous filling requirements, the exorbitant fees and a provision that would make it damn near impossible to find a lawyer to challenge denials.
This bill has nothing to do with reforming the public records system and everything to do with keeping the public in the dark.
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