Records of e-mail likely will reveal whether Gov. Matt Blunt’s aides used state time and property to conduct political business.
The messages are public documents under Missouri’s Sunshine Law, experts on the law say. The governor’s office claimed, however, that it routinely had deleted e-mail messages.
Special investigators appointed by Attorney General Jay Nixon have pledged to find the facts.
The flap illustrates the importance of a strong law requiring government documents to be available and accessible to the public. The public has a right to know what government officials are doing on the taxpayers’ time and with tax dollars.
The state’s open records/open meetings law needs clearer definitions of violations, and tougher penalties. That deserves attention this week which is National Sunshine Week.
Several incidents in the last year alone reflect the need to tighten the law. Those incidents include the Missouri Ethics Commission’s disappointing decision to close hearings when candidates pleaded to keep campaign contributions that went over state limits.
Rep. Tim Jones’ Sunshine bill offers several positive changes. Jones, a Eureka Republican, wants to:
-- Make it clear that most meetings and records of the Missouri Ethics Commission are open.
-- Broaden the definition of a “public governmental body” subject to the law.
-- Require that computer programs used to manipulate data of public bodies be written so that data can be easily accessed and used by the public.
An example: records that are used in spreadsheets, such as crime reports.
By contrast, legislation sponsored by Sen. Jack Goodman, a Mt. Vernon Republican, would make it much tougher for journalists and others to put together government data in a form that is easily read and understood.
Goodman would put limits on the types of documents that could be turned over to the public.
The public interest is doubly served with a state “shield” law. Such legislation, being considered in both Kansas and Missouri, would protect journalists from having to reveal their sources except under extraordinary circumstances and when ordered to do so by a judge.
The risk to the public now is that persons with information about government wrong-doing will not come forward because they fear being identified. A shield law would encourage whistleblowers to tell what they know without fear of retribution.
In Kansas, the legislative session ends in early April; in Missouri, it is mid-May. Lawmakers in both states need to get serious quickly to improve public access to information.
To track Sunshine legislation, go to www.moga.state.mo.us in Missouri and to www.kslegislature.org in Kansas. In Missouri, legislation to improve the law is House Bill 2210. Jack Goodman’s proposal is Senate Bill 1196. The shield bill in Missouri is House Bill 1539 and in Kansas, Senate Bill 313.
