GOP Leader Should Support Openness Bill

The (Nashville) Tennessean
Wednesday, 03/22/06

Law requiring openness is crucial to restoring public’s trust in government

An opinion last week from the General Assembly's top Republican may explain quite a bit about why things are the way they are on Capitol Hill.

Senate Majority Leader Ron Ramsey described legislation that would clarify and strengthen Tennessee's open meetings law as "way too stringent." He told the Tennessee County Services Association, whose members would be impacted by the bill, that he had a problem with fining people and putting the burden of proof on officials accused of participating in a closed meeting. He said he wouldn't support the bill without serious revisions.

The legislation calls for fines of $50 against officials who violate the open meetings law. The TCSA is opposed to the bill and hasn't participated in negotiations over the bill with the group pushing it, the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government.

Fortunately, Ramsey's opinion isn't shared by all of his colleagues. Ten Republican senators, to their credit, have signed on as sponsors of the bill.

Tennesseans would hope and expect that all local and state officials support the spirit of openness in government and are willing to put their backing behind any effort that would strengthen the state's open meetings requirement. After all, their reputations have the most to gain.

Yet what is ironic about the opposition from Ramsey and TCSA is that many of the complaints about secret meetings are lodged not by the public, but by other officials who were locked out of the closed sessions.

Two years ago, TCOG conducted a survey of open meetings and open records laws; it found 115 alleged violations of the openness laws from January 2003 to October 2005. Forty of those 115 alleged violations were from officials who were not asked to participate in the secret meetings. That phenomenon has occurred close to home, with state lawmakers or Metro Council members who only learned about closed-door meetings from the media after the fact.

If Ramsey or the TCSA have specific complaints about the details of the legislation, they need to participate in the negotiations. But if the General Assembly adjourns this year without strengthening the open meetings law, the session will go down as a failure. After all Tennessee has endured over the last year with scandals and ethics reform, surely there is no question that the key to public trust is openness, and openness requirements don't mean squat if a penalty isn't attached. •