FLORIDA TIMES-UNION EDITORIAL: Open government: No more shady deals

STORY UPDATED AT 1:02 AM ON SUNDAY, MAY. 10, 2009

State legislative leaders love handling your taxpayer business like it's none of your business.

They make big budget decisions on taxes, fees and spending behind closed doors and then let you and their colleagues in on them.

A Leon County grand jury recently slammed this shadowy style of policy making.
The response? A shrug.

That's why we clearly need a constitutional amendment that would bring more sunshine to the dark recesses of the legislative process.

You would think lawmakers would get a clue after the Leon County grand jury indicted former state House Speaker Ray Sansom and Northwest Florida State College President Bob Richburg on charges of official misconduct.

The grand jury said Samson used his influence to slip in $6 million in state money for college emergency operations and a training center that was actually an aircraft shelter for a developer friend who was a campaign contributor and donor to the state Republican Party.

Many left out
But the grand jury said this is what can happen when lawmakers veer from the sunshine on budget matters.

"Regular members had no idea that they voted to build an aircraft hanger for a college that owned no aircraft and funded a building on land that the State does not own," the Leon County grand jury report said.

It went on to note that the "procedure currently in place requires that our elected Legislature vote on a final budget that they have no knowledge about because it is finalized in a meeting between only two legislators."

Breaking spirit of law
Lawmakers can counter that they are doing business in the open; and they are right, to a point.

A 1990 constitutional amendment by voters tried to make it so.

It required meetings of more than two state lawmakers to be open to the public if the idea was to reach an agreement on a formal action by members. And it also dictated that House speaker, Senate president and governor meet in public.

Sidestepping rules
But lawmakers could sidestep these rules by meeting in pairs or talking on the phone, e-mailing or text messaging one another.

And yes, full sessions of both houses and committee meetings are noticed and held in public.

The deals often come in private before those meetings take place, too often as formalities.

It happened on this year's budget and with last-minute measures touting more oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and altering the election system, and it has happened time and again in the past.

Even other members of the Legislature are left out.

And lawmakers too often disregard the rule that meetings of three or more of their members on policy issues be public friendly.

They argue that the law is impractical, that it is inefficient. That's the old top-down management style that produces short-term results but not long-term buy-in.

On the contrary, a thoughtful examination of drilling off the coast of Florida cannot be held in the rushed final days of the legislative session. That requires months of hearings to find the right balance.

Meanwhile, state and local government agencies and elected boards must comply with a Sunshine Law that requires public notice, open meetings and minutes taken when two or more members of the same body meet.

Too many state lawmakers obviously don't get it and don't care.

But they would have to if voters approve a constitutional amendment requiring higher standards from them.

It will take a citizen's initiative to get the process rolling. This is a good time to get started.

http://jacksonville.com/opinion/editorials/2009-05-10/story/open_government_no_more_shady_deals