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[Note: This material is copyright by the Press-Citizen, 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 Iowa City Press-Citizen.]

Any Iowan who doesn't recognize why we need more openness and accountability than we've been getting the past several months -- during the failed University of Iowa presidential search and regarding the correspondence of University Hospitals Director Emeritus John Colloton and the scandal at the Central Iowa Employment Training Consortium, for example -- either has his head in the sand or has been on an extremely long vacation.

Dubuque Democrats Rep. Pam Jochum, leader of the House State Government Committee, and Sen. Mike Connolly, leader of the Senate State Government Committee, say legislators should review whether to tighten confidentiality exemptions in open records and meetings laws, streamline the administrative and legal procedures used to determine whether records should be disclosed and toughen civil penalties for violators.

Sen. Bob Dvorsky, D-Coralville, said he hoped there could be hearings and legislation on the open government issues this year. Jochum and Connolly are hoping to have changes within two years.

We believe the laws should be tightened. But we also believe that there has to be more accountability regarding the laws already on the books. That's why we believe the most important step legislators can take is to toughen civil penalties.

The audacity of the Iowa state Board of Regents is a prime example. In November, they ended a board meeting in closed session, then met several times in the next week without notice of time, date or location, which is required according to state law. Regents say the meetings were OK'd by board office lawyers. The Press-Citizen has filed suit alleging the "rolling" meetings violated the open meetings law and that the regents discussed matters inappropriate for closed session in those meetings.

The regents also have taken to conducting a great deal of business by e-mail to multiple regents. If discussion that should be held in open public meetings is done electronically, where does that leave us?

Press-Citizen reporter Brian Morelli recently asked regents Executive Director Gary Steinke that regents copy him in on any correspondence between five or more regents.

Steinke's response? "Nice try, Brian. Request denied."

What the regents don't seem to realize is that their open government sleight-of-hands could have long-range consequences for all Iowans. We're glad that legislators realize that we have some problems when it comes to openness. Strengthening language that already prohibits rolling meetings, stopping the meeting by e-mail and toughening penalties would be excellent places to start.