Texas open meeting laws and new media

Last Tuesday, May 11, the Texas Senate State Affairs Committee spent nearly three hours discussing how the emergence of social media has changed the way governmental bodies conduct public business.

These new tools can be used by elected officials to better communicate with constituents. But as Keith Elkins, a former Capitol reporter and now executive director of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas, noted, elected officials could also use their cell phones, Blackberrys, laptops, and personal computers to communicate with one another in secrecy, outside of the state’s open records law and theTexas Open Meetings Act. He isn’t the first person to worry about this. Jason Stverak, president of the Franklin Center for Government & Public Integrity, worried earlier this month about the lack of archiving in new media: while public officials are more available to their constituents, the are also more available to each other through means that circumvent open meetings law.

Senate State Affairs Committee chairman Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock, recommends the Texas Legislature address how elected officials use the Internet to assure the public that no one is using the technology to violate the state’s Open Meetings Act or the Public Information Act. He also said public officials should not live in fear of being accused of violating the Public Meetings Act if they use electronic devices to communicate with others.

I wrote last week about the being behind municipalities using taxpayer dollars to sue Texas in order to “gut” the state’s open meetings law. Last year, four cities and some 20 local officials from across the state filed a federal lawsuit, supported by the Texas Municipal League, arguing that the penalties for violating the Act are harsh and unconstitutional. These penalties includ six months in jail and a fine of up to $500.
“We’ve got some good folks who are threatened with jail by innocent remarks or e-mails” said Amarillo Mayor and League president Debra McCartt.

Of course, there are consequences for a law that isn’t strict. The Illinois FOIA improvements that went into effect this year have sought to remedy lax execution of the state’s open meetings and records laws by setting up strict deadlines for compliance, and severe penalties for failing to do so.

It seems the answer is for Open Meetings Laws to explicitly state what is and isn’t acceptable, and to make clear what the exemptions to the law are. These laws need to address changing technology. It isn’t fair to officials for them to be unclear about whether their Tweet breaks the law, and it isn’t fair to citizens to be unable to access a Tweet relating to public business. Lastly, breaking the law needs to come with penalties that are strict enough to induce compliance.

Join us tomorrow on Twitter from 2-3 Eastern Standard Time to talk about Texas Open Meetings Law and open meetings laws in your state. Use hashtag #FOIAchat to talk to other transparency advocates about questions you may have or your experiences with open meetings. (If you can’t make it, our discussions are always archived.) For a topic schedule, look here.

#FOIAchat this Friday

Sunshine Review loves data, that nitty-gritty information that can really break down a topic, but one thing is can’t do is discuss what’s going on with people like you in real time.

Luckily, Twitter is there to back us up. This Friday w’ere going to be starting FOIAchat Fridays, where we can sit down for an hour or so and hear what you’re thoughts, experiences or hopes are for government transparency.

Please joins us, and invite others, tomorrow for our first FOIAchat Friday.

• When: March 5th
• Time: 1:00 pm CST – 2:00 pm CST
• Twitter hashtag: #FOIAchat
• Topic: Changes to FOIA laws

We’re especially curious to hear your thoughts on what’s going on with Illinois’s FOIA law. It was opened up in late 2009, but already the Illinois Legislature has proposed six bills that would restrict the FOIA law, including passing SB 315 which restricted access to public employee performance evaluations.

So join us tomorrow to let us know your thoughts on these and other FOIA developments.

#statebooks

If you are interested in getting real-time information on state budgets, taxes, and other fiscal issues, (and who’s not?) check out the #statebooks Twitter stream. If you want to participate, get an account at Twitter.com and just include “#statebooks” in your tweet.

Oh, and if you want to check up on what I’m doing, go here.