The General Assembly has about two weeks before "crossover day," the date when each chamber is supposed to finish work on its bills and take up bills passed by the other House. That means lawmakers soon will have to decide on several pernicious measures meant to hide public information from the public.
The bills would let local governments (or in one case, a state agency) bury public notices deep in the bowels of their own websites, rather than publish them prominently in independent, third-party local newspapers as they must do now. If you have ever tried to find such notices on the localities' websites — and we have — you know what a frustrating and usually futile search it can be. Passage of these bills would give a green light to secrecy and concealment.
Thus, we are glad to report one of the measures, HB222, has been laid by — that is, not passed — by a House subcommittee. The rest — HB234, HB623, HB773 and HB812 — remain under consideration. They await action from the House Courts of Justice Committee (234), chaired by Del. David Albo (his office number is 698-1042); the Privileges and Elections Committee (623), chaired by Del. Mark Cole (698-1088); the Committee on Counties, Cities and Towns (773), chaired by Del. Riley Ingram (698-1062); and the Committee on General Laws (812), chaired by Del. Chris Jones (698-1076).
House Speaker Bill Howell (698-1028) also wields considerable influence, as does Majority Leader Kirk Cox (698-1066). Drop them a line — and tell them to drop these bills.
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