Florida lawmakers fall short on open-government votes, Sunshine Scorecard reveals | Editorial. (Tallahassee Democrat)

As Justice Louis Dembitz Brandeis said, "Publicity is justly commended as a remedy for social and industrial diseases. Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants; electric light the most efficient policeman." Other People's Money—and How Bankers Use It (1914).

Good editorial by Florida Association of Newspaper Editors from Tallahassee Democrat newspaper:

Florida lawmakers fall short on open-government votes, Sunshine Scorecard reveals | Editorial

Editorial on behalf of Florida Society of News EditorsPublished 6:00 a.m. ET Oct. 2, 2019 | Updated 4:16 p.m. ET Oct. 4, 2019

• 1 of 65
• Last SlideNext Slide

  Sunshine Scorecard evaluates legislators on open-government votes.

  CONNECTTWEETLINKEDINCOMMENTEMAILMORE
  
  
  
  

  STORY HIGHLIGHTS

  • Most lawmakers scored below a C grade.
  • Twenty-five lawmakers earned F grades.
  State lawmakers came dangerously close to creating two classes of Floridians this year. 
  One class — call them the politically connected class — would have consisted of candidates, parties and political action committees. This group’s right to access valuable voter information would have been protected by a bill advanced last spring in the Florida Legislature.  
  The second class — meaning everyone else in Florida — would have been legally blocked from accessing the same information: voter email addresses, cellphone numbers and addresses. 
  That would have put grassroots organizations and civic groups at a disadvantage to PACs, parties and candidates. Involved citizens would have had a tough time contacting voters in their communities. 
  It was a dangerous and undemocratic idea — and, fortunately, outcry from public-records advocates prompted cooler heads in the Florida Legislature to remove the worst provisions from the bill, CS/HB 281. 
  
  
  
  

  

  Lawmakers and lobbyists returned to the Capital as committee meetings began Monday, Sept. 16, 2019. (Photo: Tori Schneider/Tallahassee Democrat)

  
  
  But this brush with bad policy was not an anomaly. 
  More: 'A little darker than we were before': Florida public records exemptions further limit access
  Though Florida historically has had some of the best public-records and open-meetings laws in the country, state lawmakers poke new holes in those protections every year. 
  That erosion of rights has a cumulative impact on the ability of Floridians to watchdog the governments we elect and pay for. 
  That’s why, since 2017, the Florida Society of News Editors has published an annual Sunshine Scorecard evaluating state lawmakers’ track records on open government. Our alliance of journalists believes in equal and transparent access to public information.
  "It's essential to a healthy state and healthy, engaged democratic communities," said Cindy McCurry-Ross, immediate past president of the Florida Society of News Editors and Florida editor for the USA TODAY Network. "At one point, Florida's was known as one of the most open governments in the country. Bill after bill, exemption after exemption, that status has been eroded."
  This year’s Sunshine Scorecard is short on honor students. Most lawmakers scored below a C grade, with C- being the most common score. Both Democrats and Republicans are among the lowest scorers. 
  Not a single lawmaker received an A, and only five earned grades of B or B-. Among the top performers was Rep. Cindy Polo, D-Miramar. She sponsored a bill that would have improved access to public information by requiring time estimates be provided to people making records requests. Unfortunately, her fellow lawmakers weren’t interested. House Bill 479 died in committee. As a result, government agencies can continue indefinite foot-dragging on the public’s requests. 
  Get the Opinion News newsletter in your inbox.

  Editorials, Letters to the editor, political cartoons

  Delivery: varies

  
  

  
  

  Your Email

  More: Search by county for your lawmakers' grades on the Sunshine Scorecard

  
  
  
  

  

  State Rep. Ray Rodrigues, R-Estero (Photo: File)

  Rep. Ray Rodrigues, R-Estero, was another bright spot: He earned a B- in large part because he filed a common-sense bill that would have prevented government agencies from suing those who make public-records requests (as the city of Orlando didafter a request for 911 records of the Pulse shooting). Such suits could have a chilling effect on public access. His bill, HB 407, passed unanimously in the House but died in the Senate. Rodrigues plans to file the bill again next year. 

  “I really believe sunshine is popular with the Florida voting public, no matter where they are on the political spectrum,” Rodrigues said. 

  Unfortunately, that philosophy is not widely embraced among Florida lawmakers.

  Twenty-five of Florida’s 160 legislators earned F grades on the Sunshine Scorecard — the result of votes in favor of exemptions to public-records protections, or against new protections. Some also sponsored bills that would have diminished public records access.

  The purpose of the Sunshine Scorecard is to hold lawmakers accountable, so they will cast wiser votes and advance better open-government bills in the future. To that end, we have some recommendations. 

  First, let’s look at the open-government protections we lost this year. 

  More: School safety, hurricane recovery, budget top legislative agenda

  Sunshine dims

  The Sunshine Scorecard awards and subtracts points to lawmakers based on good and bad bills identified by the Tallahassee-based First Amendment Foundation, a nonprofit that advocates for open government. 

  Bad bills were plentiful in 2019. Those that passed were:

  CS/SB 248/HB 203: Expands the definition of "home address" to include 30-plus property descriptions, including parcel numbers, plot IDs, legal property descriptions and GPS coordinates for a large class of criminal justice workers. 

  Why it’s bad: Investigative reporters have used property descriptions to reveal that homes owned by public officials were being used for illegal purposes, including drug houses, according to Barbara Petersen, president of the First Amendment Foundation. “To say this information is important to the public’s ability to oversee its government and hold it accountable is an understatement,” Petersen wrote in a letter urging the Florida House to reject the bill. 

  HB 7125: Requires the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to adopt rules to automatically seal a criminal history record when a charging document isn’t filed, the charges themselves weren’t filed or they were dropped or dismissed, or the defendant was acquitted or found not guilty. It doesn’t require sealing by the court or other criminal justice agencies. The First Amendment Foundation asked Gov. Ron DeSantis to veto this bill, but the governor signed it anyway. 

  Why it’s bad: Less access to criminal justice records means less public accountability for both the accused and law enforcement/prosecutors. Should a daycare center, for example, have a right to know if a job applicant was repeatedly accused (but acquitted) of a lewd act against a child? Under this new law, such information will not be available from FDLE. 

  HB 7033/SB 7056: Re-enacts exemptions for certain records relating to family trust companies held by the Office of Financial Regulation, including personal identifying information. This exemption was created five years ago and, by law, had to be approved by the state Legislature for reenactment. 

  Why it’s bad: Eliminating access to these records means less public accountability of the Office of Financial Regulation and its oversight of family trusts. 

  The scorecard also gives credit to lawmakers who voted against bad bills that died:

  • HB 7115: Would have created a public-records and open-meetings exemption for identifying information of applicants for presidents or provosts at state universities and colleges.
  • SB 1146: Would have expanded a public-records exemption for a photograph or video or audio recording held by an agency that depicts the killing of a law enforcement officer.
  • HB 1201: Would have provided new exemptions for autopsy records.
  • SB 1622: Would have created a new exemption for public information about foster parents. Rodrigues amended the House version, HB 1249, to remove the worst provisions. Sen. Bill Montford, D-Tallahassee, introduced the original bill but ultimately allowed it to die.  

  Nothing good passed

  Florida lawmakers also had an opportunity to earn points for voting in favor of good bills — but those opportunities were rare in 2019. 

  And every good bill died. 

  In addition to the good bills filed by Polo and Rodrigues, a helpful proposal that would have enhanced the public’s right to speak at meetings and public notification requirements failed to get enough votes to pass. That bill, HB 265, was unsuccessfully pushed by Reps. Wengay Newton, D-St. Petersburg, and Sen. Kevin Rader, D-Boca Raton. 

  Meanwhile, Florida lawmakers approved a larger proportion of exemptions in 2019 than they do during the typical legislative session — 25 bills out of the 173 general bills passed. 

  The silver lining of our 2019 Sunshine Scorecard: Some lawmakers worked to block the worst parts of bad bills.