Bill: Cut some agency secrecy
May 1, 2009
Senate Bill 671 would allow an appeal process under which a lawmaker who receives agency documents under a legislative request would be able to override any confidentiality agreement the agency required them to sign if the documents are ruled to be public information.
Written by Mike Ward, The Austin American Statesman
A bill designed to keep state agencies from making legislators agree to keep public documents secret under a little-known law was approved this morning by the Texas Senate.
Senate Bill 671 would allow an appeal process under which a lawmaker who receives agency documents under a legislative request would be able to override any confidentiality agreement the agency required them to sign if the documents are ruled to be public information.
A review by the state attorney general’s office of a district court could obviate a secrecy agreement, said state Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, the bill’s author.
State agencies in recent years have been requiring lawmakers to sign confidentiality agreement when they provide documents to the Legislature. In many case, those documents should be public information — but the agencies don’t want the data made public to cover their mistakes or to avoid controversy.
Shapleigh said he has experienced problems in that regard with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Other lawmakers have complained in the past two years about similar secrecy deals required by the Texas Youth Commission and other agencies.
Without debate, the Senate approved the measure 31-0. It how goes to the House for consideration.
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