By Matt Canham and Rebecca Walsh
The Salt Lake Tribune
Salt Lake Tribune
With almost no debate, Utah lawmakers have ramrodded a bill through the Legislature that could restrict the public's access - through phone, e-mail or other means - to government employees and elected officials.
Moments before a final vote, Sen. Beverly Evans, R-Altamont, substituted the language in HB258, previously considered a simple technical correction.
The new proposal would allow a government agency to release only one address, business phone number and e-mail address to contact an employee.
"It allows a government entity to funnel all requests for information through a single contact person," said Jeff Hunt, an attorney representing the Utah Media Coalition.
All of the other contact information would be specifically excluded from the law's definition of a record, allowing the government to refuse to respond to requests for the information or even deny its existence.
"To pretend that these numbers don't even exist is kind of a silly solution," said attorney Michael O'Brien, who is under contract with The Salt Lake Tribune. "It is not clear why there was a need for this. I haven't heard any justification for it."
O'Brien criticized the late substitution as "bad public policy," which subverted public comment and the normal legislative process.
He said the bill theoretically allows for access, however limited, but also opens the door for possible abuses, such as a centralized screening process to block unwanted citizen contact.
If that takes place "this will be a blow to open government," he said.
The media coalition signed off on the previous version of HB258, but O'Brien and Hunt said they had not seen the new language until late Thursday.
The bill's sponsor, Corinne Republican Rep. Ben Ferry, said the change is meant to protect state emergency workers and others who use pagers, walkie-talkies and internal cell phones.
But the bill is much broader than that and comes just months after the state purchased new BlackBerry phones for lawmakers and their staffs. Taxpayers are expected to spend $850,000 annually to equip state workers with the devices that use wireless phone and Internet service.
"There was no intention on our part" to block access to lawmakers' cell phone numbers, Ferry said. He would not elaborate on the ramifications of HB258 without talking to a legislative attorney.
Both Sen. Scott Jenkins, R-Plain City, and Sen. Patrice Arent, D-Murray, said they were uncomfortable about substituting a completely new bill right before voting Thursday.
"I'm concerned about cutting off access," Arent said.
But sponsoring Sen. Evans assured them the legislation is routine.
"This in no way limits access," Evans said. "It just clarifies definitions."
The Senate passed the bill unanimously and House members agreed to concur, though they realized after voting that under the rules of the House they would have to wait 24 hours before giving the bill its final blessing.
That last vote is expected today. If it passes, the bill would go before Gov. Jon Huntsman, Jr. and would become law immediately after he signed it.
mcanham@sltrib.com; walsh@sltrib.com |
