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Measure seeks penalty for ignoring lawmakers’ public records requests
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Posted on Aug 03 2008
Legislation has been introduced to penalize government employees who ignore a lawmaker’s request for public records even while the Legislature continues to be exempt from the Open Government Act.
Rep. Diego T. Benavente has sponsored a bill requiring government employees to comply with requests for public records by members of the Legislature within 10 days of a written request. The bill also proposes to hold violators liable for contempt.
Benavente, in his bill, said that “government officers and employees too frequently disregard and neglect requests for public records by members of the Legislature.” He added that those public records are often vital for legislative members to carry out their lawmaking responsibilities.
What the bill proposes to do is similar to the provisions now in effect under the Open Government Act. The law requires government agencies to make public records available for inspection and to respond to requests for information within 10 days of a written request. It also mandates government agencies to conduct their meetings openly.
The Open Government Act, however, does not apply to the Legislative Branch. The 9th Legislature repealed a section subjecting lawmakers to the transparency law. A legislative attempt to restore that provision failed in the last Legislature.
A citizen-driven initiative has now been submitted to restore the application of the Open Government Act to the Legislature. It may be placed on the ballot as early as this November.
