Brown, lawmakers back off effort that would have gutted open records law

OK, the public records nut storm has passed in Sacramento. After a torrent of nasty newspaper editorials and outrage from open government advocates on the left and right, Gov. Jerry Brown and lawmakers have backed off their plan that would have gutted the state’s open records law in the name of saving two-one-hundredths-of-one percent of the state budget. The state Assembly had already backed off, but Brown and state Senate leaders had not—until yesterday. For whatever it’s worth, these are all Democrats, remember. Mercury News