National Sunshine Week again finds Arkansas in the midst of a legislative session in which numerous lawmakers are trying to blunt public access to information.
Unfortunately, it’s something that happens every time the state Legislature meets in regular session. Someone always wants to weaken the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act, which has since 1967 assured citizens of this state access to public records and public meetings.
Observance of Sunshine Week, which begins today and lasts all week, is in its 10th year. It is a collaborative effort to bring attention to the importance of transparency in government at all levels. For more information on the national initiative, go online to www.sunshineweek.org.
In Arkansas, the focus is on the state’s longstanding FOI Act and the latest attacks on it. The Arkansas law affects both state and local governments.
Amendments to the state law, although comparatively few over the almost half century it has been in place, have limited some of the access citizens have. But the law remains a primary tool for keeping government honest and for making sure “we, the people” can participate at all levels of government.
It is yet to be determined just how much access will be altered this year, but lawmakers are definitely trying to shield some information from public view.
A couple of proposals have already been enacted into law and more are in legislative channels.
One of the new laws, Act 186, will cut off access to certain customer information held by municipal utilities. Customers may welcome that exemption from disclosure, but the new law could also foil the public interest.
Here’s a concrete illustration: Years ago, examination of city of Fayetteville water department records confirmed that the county’s then-sheriff was having Washington County pay the monthly water bills for the sheriff’s home. The sheriff’s spending was revealed through newspaper reporting of those and other findings and the matter became part of a local grand jury inquiry.
Clearly, there was a public interest in how county tax dollars were being spent. And, notably, county voters rejected the sheriff’s re-election bid in the next election.
The new Act 186, had it been in place all those years ago, would have cut off access to those then-public water department records and might have let the sheriff continue to route his personal bills through his office accounts.
Not all FOI-related legislation is bad. Another of this year’s new laws, Act 102, amends existing law to spell out that public employees may exercise rights afforded to all citizens of this state under the FOI Act without fear of discipline or reprimand from their public employers for doing so.
The FOI Act importantly enables all citizens, not just the media, to have access to public meetings and records — or at least most of them.
There are exceptions in the law and there could certainly be more once this legislative session is finished.
Besides the ones that have already been passed into law, close to 40 more bills filed in this session mention the Freedom of Information Act.
Most of them aren’t so good, at least in terms of protecting the public’s right to know what its governments are doing.
So you know, a state Freedom of Information Coalition routinely watchdogs compliance with the law and seeks to keep the state FOI Act strong. Naturally, the coalition is most active during legislative sessions.
Coalition volunteers, who come mostly from media and government backgrounds, work with the Arkansas Press Association, which also has its own lobbyist to track and react to proposed legislation on this and other issues.
Just last week, for example, coalition members met with legislative sponsors of several bills that would amend the law, expressing concerns and explaining what may be unintended consequences of proposed legislation.
Not all lawmakers run their proposals by the coalition, but many do. Some amend their bills to answer coalition concerns. Others don’t.
The coalition opposes some of the bills, supports a few and takes no position on others.
Mostly, the coalition gives direct voice to the public interest in keeping government transparent.
But the burden to defend the public right to know should really be on all citizens, just as the benefits of the FOI Act are for all of us.
Brenda Blagg is a freelance columnist and longtime journalist in Northwest Arkansas. She is a founding member of the Arkansas Freedom of Information Coalition.