Lawmakers poking holes in open laws

State lawmakers came dangerously close to creating two classes of Floridians this year.

One class — call them the politically connected class — would have consisted of candidates, parties and political action committees. This group’s right to access valuable voter information would have been protected by a bill advanced last spring in the Florida Legislature.

The second class — meaning everyone else in Florida — would have been legally blocked from accessing the same information: voter email addresses, cellphone numbers and addresses.

That would have put grassroots organizations and civic groups at a disadvantage to PACs, parties and candidates. Involved citizens would have had a tough time contacting voters in their communities.

It was a dangerous and undemocratic idea — and, fortunately, outcry from public-records advocates prompted cooler heads in the Florida Legislature to remove the worst provisions from the bill, CS/HB 281

But this brush with bad policy was not an anomaly.

Though Florida historically has had some of the best public-records and openmeetings laws in the country, state lawmakers poke new holes in those protections every year.

That erosion of rights has a cumulative impact on the ability of Floridians to watchdog the governments we elect and pay for.

That’s why, since 2017, the Florida Society of News Editors has published an annual Sunshine Scorecard evaluating state lawmakers’ track records on open government. Our alliance of journalists believes in equal and transparent access to public information.

“It’s essential to a healthy state and healthy, engaged democratic communities,” said Cindy McCurry-Ross, immediate past president of the Florida Society of News Editors and Florida editor for the USA TODAY Network.

This year’s Sunshine Scorecard is short on honor students. Most lawmakers scored below a C grade, with C- being the most common score. Both Democrats and Republicans are among the lowest scorers.

Not a single lawmaker received an A, and only five earned grades of B or B-. Among the top performers was Rep. Cindy Polo, D-Miramar. She sponsored a bill that would have improved access to public information by requiring time estimates be provided to people making records requests. Unfortunately, her fellow lawmakers weren’t interested. House Bill 479 died in committee. As a result, government agencies can continue indefinite footdragging on the public’s requests.

Rep. Ray Rodrigues, R-Estero, was another bright spot: He earned a B- in large part because he filed a common-sense bill that would have prevented government agencies from suing those who make public-records requests (as the city of Orlando did after a request for 911 records of the Pulse shooting). Such suits could have a chilling effect on public access. His bill, HB 407, passed unanimously in the House but died in the Senate. Rodrigues plans to file the bill again next year.

“I really believe sunshine is popular with the Florida voting public, no matter where they are on the political spectrum,” Rodrigues said.

Unfortunately, that philosophy is not widely embraced among Florida lawmakers

Twenty-five of Florida’s 160 legislators earned F grades on the Sunshine Scorecard — the result of votes in favor of exemptions to public-records protections, or against new protections. Some also sponsored bills that would have diminished public-records access.

The purpose of the Sunshine Scorecard is to hold lawmakers accountable, so they will cast wiser votes and advance better open-government bills in the future. To that end, we have some recommendations.

First, let’s look at the open-government protections we lost this year.

The Sunshine Scorecard awards and subtracts points to lawmakers based on good and bad bills identified by the Tallahassee-based First Amendment Foundation, a nonprofit that advocates for open government.

Bad bills were plentiful in 2019. Those that passed were:

CS/SB 248/HB 203: Expands the definition of “home address” to include 30-plus property descriptions, including parcel numbers, plot IDs, legal property descriptions and GPS coordinates for a large class of criminal justice workers.

Why it’s bad: Investigative reporters have used property descriptions to reveal that homes owned by public officials were being used for illegal purposes, including drug houses, according to Barbara Petersen, president of the First Amendment Foundation.

HB 7125: Requires the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to adopt rules to automatically seal a criminal history record when a charging document isn’t filed, the charges themselves weren’t filed or they were dropped or dismissed, or the defendant was acquitted or found not guilty. It doesn’t require sealing by the court or other criminal justice agencies. The First Amendment Foundation asked Gov. Ron DeSantis to veto this bill, but the governor signed it anyway.

Why it’s bad: Less access to criminal justice records means less public accountability for both the accused and law en

forcement/prosecutors.

HB 7033/SB 7056: Re-enacts exemptions for certain records relating to family trust companies held by the Office of Financial Regulation, including personal identifying information. This exemption was created five years ago and, by law, had to be approved by the state Legislature for reenactment.

Why it’s bad: Eliminating access to these records means less public accountability of the Office of Financial Regulation and its oversight of family trusts.

The scorecard also gives credit to lawmakers who voted against bad bills that died:

HB 7115: Would have created a publicrecords and open-meetings exemption for identifying information of applicants for presidents or provosts at state universities and colleges.

SB 1146: Would have expanded a publicrecords exemption for a photograph or video or audio recording held by an agency that depicts the killing of a law enforcement officer.

HB 1201: Would have provided new exemptions for autopsy records.

SB 1622: Would have created a new exemption for public information about foster parents. Rodrigues amended the House version, HB 1249, to remove the worst provisions. Sen. Bill Montford, DTallahassee, introduced the original bill but ultimately allowed it to die.

NOTHING GOOD PASSED

Florida lawmakers also had an opportunity to earn points for voting in favor of good bills — but those opportunities were rare in 2019.

And every good bill died.

The silver lining of our 2019 Sunshine Scorecard: Some lawmakers worked to block the worst parts of bad bills.

Sen. Tom Lee, R-Bradenton, worked to amend SB 186, which would have created a public-record exemption for all photos, audio and video related to “all acts or events that cause or otherwise relate to the death of a person” who is killed in an act of mass violence.

That kind of broad exemption would have made it almost impossible to hold law enforcement accountable in cases such as the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where video footage showed a school resource officer’s delayed action and ultimately led to charges against that officer.

Fortunately, Lee narrowed the scope to maintain public access to the most important records. He was awarded extra credit on the Sunshine Scorecard for doing so. LOOKING AHEAD TO 2020

In the past, the FSNE Sunshine Scorecard has focused on what the Legislature has already done. This year, we are looking ahead.

As lawmakers begin filing bills for the 2020 session, we urge them to champion these open-government reforms:

Rein in fees: Public records aren’t reasonably accessible if they are prohibitively expensive — and some government agencies get overzealous when charging for staff time. Lawmakers should push a bill requiring governments to use the most efficient technologies (where costs are reasonable) for redaction, retrieval and archiving of public records.

Fix Marsy’s Law: Florida voters passed a constitutional amendment in 2019 to protect victims’ rights. Unfortunately, some government agencies are interpreting the new law in extreme ways — declining to share basic information about crimes in our communities. The inconsistent application of this law is detrimental to public safety and must be fixed by the Legislature.

Pass Rodrigues’ lawsuit bill: Rodrigues has promised to revive his bill preventing government agencies from suing individuals who make records requests. The 2020 session will mark his third attempt — and lawmakers who truly support open government should line up behind him.

Pass Polo’s time estimates bill: The public deserves to know how long it will take to deliver a records request. This is a good bill that more lawmakers should support.

It’s been a quarter-century since the Florida Legislature enhanced its public records laws in any meaningful way. The last go-round was 1995, when the Electronic Records Act was passed to ensure Floridians had access to digital forms of records.

The state is due for meaningful reform, in the interest of protecting public access — but lawmakers have failed to act.

Diminished open-government protections in Florida have led to reduced access to the information your tax dollars pay for. That means fewer methods for ensuring accountability of the individuals and agencies that have control over so many aspects of our lives — from tax rates to law enforcement to zoning rules.

Journalists often employ these opengovernment protections, but these laws aren’t designed for journalists. They are for the public at large.

It’s time for more Florida lawmakers to proactively demand more transparency when it comes to open government and records.

This editorial was written by Eve Samples, who leads the opinion team for the USA TODAY Network-Florida, on behalf of the Florida Society of News Editors.

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