Open-government bill package hits Senate snag,
An attempt to revive six open-government bills, stalled in a House committee, hit a roadblock Tuesday in the Texas Senate.
Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, had hoped to convert all six bills into amendments on legislation designed to streamline requests for public information from state and local governments. Three of the bills, however, had not yet been considered by a Senate committee, raising concerns from fellow senators that forced Watson to quickly change direction.
The solution, worked out on the Senate floor, will have the Senate Business and Commerce Committee hold a hearing Thursday on a Watson bill that includes elements of the three measures, “allowing for there to be a vetting by the Senate on those issues.”
That would set the table for another attempt to amend House Bill 2328 early next week, Watson said.
“We now have a way to get them a hearing, and I think we’ll be OK there,” he said.
The proposed amendments — versions of three bills by Watson and three bills by Rep. Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi — were an attempted end run around the House Government Transparency and Operation Committee, where Chairman Gary Elkins, R-Houston, has called some of the open-government bills flawed or in need of compromise language because of business opposition.
Watson told the Senate that House inaction justified the move.
“Unless we send a strong message that these bills should pass, they are very likely to die a quiet, slow death,” Watson said. “I think it would do real damage not only to our Public Information Act but to state and local governments that are supposed to be accountable to the people.”
The six proposed amendments were developed with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office and came out of a working group that included government agencies, open-government activists and legislative staff, Watson said.
The bills Watson hoped to revive were:
Senate Bill 407 by Watson, would reverse a 2015 Texas Supreme Court decision that allowed companies to block the release of information they had provided to governments if releasing it could provide competitors with an advantage — a ruling that provided a broad and frequently used exemption on government bids and contracts. The Senate voted 29-2 to approve the bill March 28.
Senate Bill 408 by Watson would reverse another 2015 Supreme Court ruling that exempted nonprofits that receive public money from state open-records laws. The Senate approved the bill, 28-3, on March 28.
Senate Bill 1655 by Watson would address another Supreme Court ruling that gave a higher degree of protection to information involving attorney-client privilege. The bill, passed unanimously by the Senate, would ensure that the ruling does not extend to other public information.
House Bill 2670 by Hunter would clarify that the release of public information cannot be blocked if it is stored on an electronic device owned by a government official or employee.
House Bill 2710 by Hunter would make dates of birth public except for members of law enforcement, if contained in a personnel file or otherwise exempted by state law. The information helps banks, media and others avoid confusion involving people with common names, Hunter has said.
House Bill 3848 by Hunter would require governments to respond to open-records requests even if they do not have any available information. The bill also would end the practice of raising generic exemptions to public disclosure, instead requiring governments to specify claimed exemptions.