GOVERNMENT GROUPS FIGHTING OPENNESS

Taxpayers pay the bills for government at all levels, but they rarely know all the details of how their money is being spent. Some taxpayers take an interest in one governmental body or another -- like a city council -- and attend the meetings in an effort to stay informed. Some go to legislative sessions in their state capitals, particularly when there are bills of particular interest.

Most taxpayers in our nation, though, rely mostly on the news media -- radio, television, newspapers, and now the Internet -- for information about government. Thankfully, the country has had a history since its beginning of being open to the public and has allowed taxpayers to watch government at work or to obtain government documents when requested.

Because some governmental units were more open than others and because taxpayers were entitled to a consistent policy when it comes to government meetings and records, most states have adopted special laws expressly enacted to protect the rights of taxpayers and to preserve privacy only when absolutely necessary. Missouri adopted what is called the Open Meetings-Open Records Act more than 20 years ago. It is commonly referred to as the Sunshine Law, because its intent is to shed light on the inner workings of government.

This year, the Missouri Press Association has made a major effort to update the Sunshine Law. Members of the public and legislators as well as press representatives helped draft the law. Among the changes, for example, is a requirement that government settlements in civil lawsuits -- such as those at Southeast Missouri State University -- be open to the public. Right now they are closed at the request of the university as part of the settlement agreement. Figures obtained by the Southeast Missourian have shown these settlements have cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars. Why the secrecy?

Interestingly, opposition to the Sunshine Law changes has come from statewide organizations that represent law enforcement, city councils, county commissions and school boards. These organizations, on behalf of their members, say more sunshine would be detrimental in some way to the effective administration of government. In short, government is working hard to keep taxpayers from knowing a lot of what is going on.

And guess who is paying for this anti-sunshine lobbying effort. Taxpayers, that's who. These organizations are funded by dues collected from sheriff's departments, councils, commissions and school boards. Those dues are part of annual budgets funded by taxpayers.

Is this what taxpayers want? Government that spends their money to fight legislation to keep taxpayers in the dark on important issues?

The legislative session is drawing to a close. Abuses of the existing Sunshine Law occur much too frequently, either deliberately or inadvertently. The changes proposed this year would make the law clearer and would open more of government to public scrutiny. House Bill 1095 has been approved by the House and is in the Senate. If you favor more openness in government, please call your senator now and speak your mind.