Posted 8:37 pm Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Open Government Laws Are Falling Behind Tech
The Texas Open Meetings Act is a good law -- but is it behind the times?
That's something the Texas Senate State Affairs Committee considered recently, when it met to discuss technology and Texas sunshine laws.
"The Texas Legislature may become the first in the nation to tackle whether tweeting and texting is being used to circumvent open meetings laws and whether the private devices of public officials can be subject to open records searches," the
Houston Chronicle
reported last week.
"They are new tools to communicate with constituents ... and in some ways they are a better way to engage the public in the public policy process," says Keith Elkins, who heads the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas.
reported last week.
"They are new tools to communicate with constituents ... and in some ways they are a better way to engage the public in the public policy process," says Keith Elkins, who heads the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas.
But noting that "everyone" at the meeting -- senators included -- had Blackberry smart phones and iPhones out during the proceedings, Elkins added, "It is not beyond the realm of possibility that a quorum of any body has texted each other to say 'Yes, I'm voting and why.'"
The
Chronicle
says while other states have recognized the problem, none have yet found a solution.
Chronicle
says while other states have recognized the problem, none have yet found a solution.
"We haven't found any other legislature that has taken this on. This is new territory," says Michael Schneider, program director of the Texas Association of Broadcasters.
"Not long after a Florida state commission recommended all agencies adopt policies on electronic messaging last year, the state's utility regulation agency was caught in a scandal when staff gave out private Blackberry messaging accounts to utility lobbyists, who treated them to a Kentucky Derby trip," the
Chronicle
added. "Though no texts were preserved, it gave the appearance of trying to circumvent the state's open meetings law."
added. "Though no texts were preserved, it gave the appearance of trying to circumvent the state's open meetings law."
That's something Texas lawmakers should address in the upcoming session. Texting is quick, easy, and addictive. It's also a way that public officials could communicate surreptitiously, even during meetings.
Doug Toney, editor and publisher of the
New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung
New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung
, told senators his reporters have watched city council members texting throughout meetings.
"Of course, he (the reporter) has no idea whether it is public business," he said.
Text-based communication, as well as "tweets," are clearly forms of communication. And as such, they must be subject to the Open Meetings and Open Records laws - just as email is.
But technology isn't the only threat to sunshine laws looming on the horizon.
Several cities, supported by the taxpayer-funded Texas Municipal League, continue to seek to get portions of the Texas Open Meetings Act repealed -- in particular, the criminal penalties for violating it.
"Alpine, and several other cities, filed a lawsuit last December claiming the Texas Open Meetings Act violates city officials' right to free speech," says Peggy Venable of Americans for Prosperity. "Furthermore, the lawsuit claims that official communications over the Internet, including emails and social networking sites, should be allowed. City officials want to use social media to get around the Open Meetings Act, and in doing so, they want to take the teeth out of the Act. New media should not be used to constitute new ways to circumvent the law."
Lawmakers can prevent this by simply adding updated language to the existing law.
