ALEC to EFF: Mind if we borrow that?

The American Legislators Exchange Council (ALEC) recently gave thumbs up to the Evergreen Freedom Foundation’s model language aimed at opening up government labor negotiations to the public. The language would expand existing Open Meetings laws to include contract negotiations that include taxpayer dollars.

From ALEC’s presser:

The model bill is the latest to apply a greater degree of transparency to public meetings. While all states have some form of open public meetings laws, only 13 allow for some form of transparency for government labor negotiations. The ALEC model language would expand state open meetings laws to encompass these negotiations, which include public officials and public employees discussing public contracts funded with public money.

The suggested language also clarifies that documents exchanged during collective bargaining negotiation sessions are available for disclosure to the public. The bill recommends the establishment of a state government website to act as a clearinghouse for the public to access copies of all public-sector collective bargaining agreements.

More transparency for tax dollars- who can be against that?