Lawmakers seek ways to block access

Lawmakers seek ways to block access

Six laws would create exemptions to open record law

By BRENDAN FARRINGTON
Associated Press Writer
Publication Date: 03/15/09


TALLAHASSEE -- As Florida newspapers call attention to laws that guarantee access to public records and government meetings, lawmakers are considering dozens of bills to block information now available to citizens.

They cover a wide variety of issues, from closing access to crime scene photographs that show all or part of a dead body to protecting personal information of public employees and their families. The laws would create an exemption to the state Constitution, which guarantees access to government records.

"A lot of them are pretty stinky. Oddly stinky, in that the sponsors may not be aware of the affect of the exemption," said Barbara Petersen, president of the First Amendment Foundation.

The foundation, an open government watchdog whose board of trustees includes several news industry managers from around Florida, is tracking 115 bills during the 60-day legislative session, and they are opposing 37. There are 52 bills that would create exemptions to the constitution and close access to records.

The opposition and exemption lists could get larger, though, because many of the bills being watched are placeholders that list a subject, but contain no language, so it's unknown what lawmakers' intentions are.

The foundation only has six bills on its support list. There are bills (SB 126 and HB 1439) that would give adoptive and foster parents access to Department of Children and Families records of the children under their care. The bills would also allow DCF to release abuse reports if it redacts information that would identify the victims.

There are also four bills that seek to make government more transparent by creating Web accessible databases to track government spending. Two (SB 594 and HB 1421) apply to state government, while another two (HB 971 and SB 1972) apply to all levels of government.

"People in their pink fuzzy slippers and their coffee cup will be able to go into their computer room and look into what their government is doing," said Sen. Ronda Storms, R-Valrico, who is sponsoring the more wide-reaching government transparency bill. "Everybody deserves to know how their money is being spent. Public scrutiny is important to democracy ... I'm for turning on the light and pulling back the curtain."

The list of bills the foundation considers bad is far longer. Among the top bills on the opposition list are measures that would keep the public from accessing:

* A government database listing abandoned properties and foreclosures (HB 221 and SB 1044)

* Information submitted to the Department of Health or the Agency for Health Care Administration by pharmacists and doctors for use in a prescription drug database (HB 145, HB 585, HB 937, HB 1017, SB 612 and SB 1354)

* The names of teachers and school administrators and personal information about them and their families (HB 409, SB 468 and SB 1260)

* Information about Department of Business and Professional Regulation investigators (HB 699 and SB 1218)

* Crime scene photos and video that show a dead person or a victim's extreme injuries (HB 277 and SB 636)

* Cell phone records of law enforcement or corrections officers or investigators employed by the Department of Children and Families, Department of Health and Department of Revenue ( HB 817 and SB 1488).

"Most of them have very good intentions, if not all of them," Petersen said. "It's very important for legislators to remember that every time they create an exemption, they're creating an exception to the constitution and I don't think they understand it."



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