That spooky tomfoolery in Sacramento over watering down the state’s open records law got a bit spookier yesterday. On the heels of the Assembly’s recanting and voting to preserve meaningful provisions of the law—such as requiring agencies to respond to public records requests within 10 days as opposed to blowing them off—the state Senate balked. Gov. Jerry Brown is poised to sign off on provisions to make local and state government less transparent as part of the state budget.
Senate Pro Tem Darryl Steinberg and San Francisco’s Mark Leno want to keep the Assembly’s plan on hold and opt to let voters decide next year whether local governments should be forced to follow the law at their own expense. They’re anxious to avoid having the state reimburse local governments for the cost of the people’s right to know. Mercury News
Politics
