New interest in opening up government
Fortunately for Kansans, bailing-wire budget fixes and constitutional crises aren’t the only hot trends in Topeka this winter.
Transparency is gaining welcome momentum at the Statehouse, with more lawmakers of varying partisan perspectives recognizing that an open government is a trustworthy and accountable one.
As Rep. Brandon Whipple, D-Wichita, told the crowd at Saturday’s area legislative forum in Haysville: “I think you guys need to know what we’re doing.”
It’s as simple as that, though the details of following that philosophy can get tricky. Among this year’s encouraging signs so far:
▪ A nonpartisan, nonprofit effort called Open Kansas recently launched at the Statehouse, with Reps. John Rubin, R-Shawnee, and John Wilson, D-Lawrence, the first to pledge to “increase Kansas government accountability by supporting: public and transparent processes, timely and reasonable access to public information, and increased public participation.” Taking pledges other than the oath of office can be ill-advised, but all legislators should support those goals.
▪ Deserved attention is being given to Senate Bill 361, which would plug the loophole that allows state officials doing public business to skirt the state’s open records law by using private e-mail accounts. The need for the bill, which has been amended by a Senate panel, was demonstrated before the 2015 session by the Brownback administration’s private e-mailing of budget proposals, including to lobbyists.
▪ Two area lawmakers, Reps. John Whitmer, R-Wichita, and Blake Carpenter, R-Derby, have filed House Bill 2573, aimed at live-streaming audio of committee hearings through the Information Network of Kansas. Other attempts to get the Legislature to offer more than the current live audio of full chamber debates have passed the Senate, only to hit a wall in the House. Whitmer and Carpenter will need to bring more of their fellow House conservatives to this cause.
Worthy bills also in the mix would require better explanations before government bodies go into closed executive sessions and guide the process for determining when police body-cam footage might be released publicly.
A question at Saturday’s forum about a bill to hike registration fees on electric and hybrid vehicles spotlighted another good item for the to-do list – curbing the rampant practice of having bills sponsored by whole committees. Assessing legislation on its merits is tough when no one will admit to its authorship.
The movement toward transparency is worth cheering on in Kansas, where too many elected leaders and law enforcement officials see laws opening meetings and documents to citizen scrutiny as an impediment to governance and justice.
This story was originally published February 15, 2016 at 6:07 PM with the headline "New interest in opening up government."