A more transparent Legislature

[B]By TINA SABLAN[/B] [I]Special to the Saipan Tribune[/I] [I]Editor’s Note: The following is the text of a statement the author delivered yesterday, April 3, 2008, at the House of Representatives during her introduction of House Resolution 16-9. The resolution was eventually placed on the calendar.[/I]

I have introduced today House Resolution 16-9, which proposes to amend the rules of procedure that govern this body in order to provide the people of the Commonwealth with full and fair notice of House sessions and committee meetings, and improved access to the public records of the Legislature.

If adopted, the new rules would require at least three business days’ notice, including agendas, for all regular and special sessions and for all committee meetings of the House. Agendas would not change once notice is issued except by a majority vote of members present and voting, and notice requirements can only be waived under emergency circumstances. In addition, bills, resolutions, committee reports, journals, voting records, financial records, and contact information for all members would be made available as public records on the official website of the Commonwealth Legislature. The Legislative Bureau would be tasked with the responsibility of disseminating public notices of sessions and meetings, and updating and maintaining the Legislature’s website.

Colleagues, I regularly receive complaints from citizens about the unreliability of the Legislature, and the lack of transparency in the way business is conducted here. Timely public notices are rarely, if ever, issued for sessions and meetings. Agendas are rarely, if ever, made available, and are constantly changed without notice. Meetings rarely, if ever, start on time, and are routinely rescheduled. Access to public records is limited, and the Legislature’s official website is not as informative as it could be, and sometimes unavailable. Sadly, I am often asked if we have adopted such practices deliberately, to discourage public involvement in the legislative process.

While appreciation has been expressed for the website that the Floor Leader has created for House bills, initiatives, and committee reports, and for the meeting notices that I send out via email when I can, the question I am often asked is, “Why doesn’t the Legislature inform the public about its meetings and make its records more readily available as a matter of institutional policy?”

House Resolution 16-9 is an attempt to begin to institutionalize a policy of improved transparency in the Legislature that will, in turn, help improve the legislative process and encourage more thoughtful deliberation of any action we take. We start with ourselves, in the 16th House of Representatives, and then we challenge our colleagues in the Senate to follow suit, and set an example for future lawmakers to follow.

I realize that changes in the House rules may not seem like such a significant and pressing issue to some of us at this time, especially considering the dire fiscal, economic, social, and infrastructural crises that we face. But I earnestly submit that it is precisely because of our grim situation and the deepening anxieties of our people that measures to stabilize the legislative process and make it more open to the public have become more imperative than ever. People want to know what we are doing in the Legislature to improve their quality of life, and they want to participate in solutions. They also want reassurance that we are cognizant of their suffering, that we have our priorities straight, and that we are focused on issues that matter to them. Stability and transparency make good economic sense, too: businesses thrive in communities with responsible, trustworthy, and accountable governments.

Colleagues, we will not be able to solve the utilities crisis, or retire the deficit, or pass a balanced budget, or turn the economy around today. We will not be able to rescue the college from its accreditation woes, or improve the quality of healthcare for our people today. These things will take time, careful planning, and great effort, and there will forces beyond our control with which to contend.

But what we can do today, what is simple, feasible, and well within our control, is to adopt rules that will give our people notice for when we meet and improved access to legislative records. Yes, these new rules will take some adjustment, and we will have to work a little harder to plan our meetings and make information more available to our people. But we are, after all, public servants, and the Legislature belongs, not to us, but to the people we represent. If we adopt these new rules—and most importantly, if we consistently honor them and do not suspend them in practice—we would be providing a great public service, and infusing the legislative process with a measure of credibility, transparency, and stability that can set the Commonwealth on a course towards better governance.

I respectfully request your support for House Resolution 16-9.

[I]Tina Sablan is a congresswoman in the 16th House of Representatives.[/I]