Amber Bryant-Tapper, A New Look At 'Sunshine' Laws

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A new look at 'sunshine' laws

Open government rules under review in Iowa

Amber Bryant-Tapper

The Gazette

January 21, 2007

[Note: This material is copyright by The Gazette, and is reproduced here as a matter of "fair use" for non-commercial, educational purposes only. Any other use may require the prior approval of The Gazette.]

DES MOINES — The advent and advance of e-mail, along with recent high-profile public information controversies, have convinced some state lawmakers that Iowa’s ‘‘sunshine’’ laws dealing with openness in government may need upgrading.
Key legislators assigned the task of reviewing statutes pertaining to Iowa’s open meetings and open records have turned for help to Arthur Bonfield, a University of Iowa law professor who played a lead role in drafting the laws that were conceived nearly 30 years ago.
Iowa’s open meetings law took effect in 1979, and the open records law began in 1986.
Rep. Pam Jochum, D- Dubuque, chairwoman of the House State Government Committee, said she expects legislative hearings will begin next month to commence a comprehensive review, but any action to revamp or modify existing laws could spill into the 2008 session.
Jochum said a number
of examples — most notably the handling of a search for a new UI president and the central Iowa job-training salary scandal — have raised questions on whether government officials or agencies may have violated open meetings or records law. The examples have convinced her and others that a review of existing laws is in order. ‘‘It’s been a while since we looked at those laws seriously,’’ she said. ‘‘So I just decided it was time.’

Laws/ 57 amendments, exceptions have been made

• FROM PAGE 1A
Sen. Michael Connolly, DDubuque, chairman of the Senate State Government Committee, said a common thread within those controversies has been the openness issue.
Bonfield said any proposed changes will require some research and study, given there have been 57 amendments or exceptions made to the socalled sunshine laws since the inception.
The political climate hasn’t changed much since the laws were created, he said, but the evolving uses and availability of technology not envisioned by the original drafters may require some adjustments or clarifications to catch up with electronic advancements.
‘‘The statutes clearly cover e-mail, there’s no doubt about that, but it certainly wasn’t as prevailing,’’ Bonfield said. ‘‘It’s the first time that all of these things are being looked at in context together with both the open meetings law and the open records law,’’ he added. ‘‘I am not aware of any comprehensive study since all of these things have happened.’’
Jochum said her committee initially will likely examine three options: whether the law needs to be changed, whether state and local government officials need to be better educated on the laws and whether officials are living by the spirit of the law. ‘‘Over the years, a mentality has slowly emerged, and we’re living in a much more adversarial environment,’’ she said. ‘‘People — especially public officials — are far more leery of public open meetings because they are subject to attack.
‘‘But that goes with being an elected official or a public official,’’ she added. ‘‘We’re doing the public’s work and the public’s business.’’
Rep. David Jacoby, D-Coralville, a member of the House State Government Committee, said actions taken by the state Board of Regents in the UI presidential search and the scandal involving the Central Iowa Employment and Training Consortium have convinced him a review is needed.
‘‘Anytime you have a law on the books for ‘x’ number of years, people find loopholes around it,’’ he said.
Jacoby said controversies may have been averted or problems brought to light had agendas been posted and followed as prescribed by law and had discussions and deliberations been conducted in public view.
‘‘I think the Board of Regents specifically shows that the use of electronics can misuse or abuse the true intent of the open meetings law,’’ he said. ‘‘Those discussions were not single, one on one, but actually a chain of discussions, which can constitute a group meeting.
‘‘(The UI is) a public university supported by all of our tax dollars and the students’ tuition dollars, and I think people have a right to know what’s going on when they’re hiring a president,’’ he added.
Jochum said her committee plans to begin its review — possibly as early as Feb. 8 — by hearing testimony from representatives of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council and the Iowa Newspaper Association, as well as other interested parties. She said potential bills must make it out of committee by mid-March to be considered this session.
‘‘If we don’t get our work done, we could ask the oversight committee to keep working on it in the interim, or the bill would spill over into the 2008 session, and we can finish our work then,’’ she said.
Kathleen Richardson, a lawyer and journalism professor at Drake University who serves as executive secretary of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council, said the review should focus on reoccurring problems associated with open meetings and open records and determine how best to fix them.
‘‘For years, those of us who are involved in this area have wrestled with, when you do have problems, what’s the best way to take care of it,’’ Richardson said. ‘‘Do you attempt to change the law? Sometimes it’s an issue of enforcement. Sometimes the issue is education (of officials).’’
Senate Minority Leader Mary Lundby of Marion believes the main problem is enforcement.
‘‘I think government has a tendency to want to keep things secret, and I don’t think we should ever, for the most part, keep things secret,’’ she said. Lundby said the problems and controversies of open meetings and open records laws have been an issue for years, and she agrees that it’s time to take a look at their effectiveness
• Contact the writer: (319) 398-8313 or news@gazettecommunications.com

Arthur Bonfield
UI professor

State Rep.
David Jacoby
D-Coralville

Kathleen Richardson
Iowa Freedom of Information Council

State Sen.
Mary Lundby
R-Marion

• LAWS, PAGE 16A

State Rep.
Pam Jochum
D-Dubuque