Tennessee bills would make government even less open
Last week state elected officials came out for the Tennessee Press Association conference and made several remarks favorable to more open government.
Gov. Bill Lee delivered this powerful statement: “Without a free press, we don’t have a free country.”
That is a good sentiment, not just for the press, but for citizens who want government to be open and accountable.
There are, in fact, quite a few pieces of legislation that would expand public records, and a standing committee is examining how to harness the growing and worrisome number of public records exemptions, which near 600.
However, there are a few pieces of legislation that might be well-intentioned but would have the devastating effect of curbing the people’s right to know or discouraging citizens from wanting to know.
These two bills, in particular, should cause people great concern:
Making 911 recordings secret
Sponsors: Rep. Rick Tillis, R-lewisburg, and Sen. Shane Reeves, R-murfreesboro.
House Bill 335 and companion Senate Bill 386 would effectively make 911 recordings confidential.
These recordings obviously have sensitive information.
But knowing how officials, including 911 operators, respond can help citizens understand how emergencies are being handled in their communities.
Having faith in 911 is important, and making these recordings a mystery would quash the ability of the public to know whether this critical interaction between citizens and local government is working properly.
Discouraging gadflies from seeking public records
Sponsors: House Majority Leader Rep. William Lamberth, R-cottontown, and Sen. Ferrell Haile, R-gallatin
House Bill 626 and companion SB 590 would allow public records custodians to seek a court injunction effectively to keep gadflies from making numerous public records requests.
No doubt, some citizens are more persistent than others, and government officials should not be subject to harassment or threats. Surely, existing laws would or should prevent any kind of abuse.
However, having a three-strikesand-you’re-out law is ripe for potential abuse if there is any tension or bad blood between an individual and certain government officials.
Instead, lawmakers should ensure the records custodians are properly trained to handle requests efficiently and direct people to the right source.
Making records more accessible and potentially automating some functions — like digitizing all documents — would allow people to search for themselves.
A ban on livestreaming
Finally, committee chairs in the House have been given latitude to ban livestreaming of meetings. Some view livestreaming as potentially disruptive, and others have argued that since the Tennessee General Assembly already livestreams meetings, this should not be an impediment to public access.
However, not everyone gets their information from the Tennessee General Assembly website. And sometimes, citizens prefer to receive their information from their elected official, their community advocate or a journalist directly in a live feed.
Such livestreaming need not be a distraction, and if people are disruptive for other reasons, there are already means to have them removed from a meeting room.
All three of these restrictions are a step too far.
Opinion and Engagement Director David Plazas wrote this editorial on behalf of the editorial boards of the USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee. Call him at 615-259-8063, email him at dplazas@tennessean.com or tweet to him at @davidplazas.