Colorado’s legislature has not been entirely supportive of media access in recent sessions, the Democrats enjoying crafting legislation without the public looking on. A major example was the lead up a year ago with the collaborative effort to provide a mix of property tax relief in the face of a couple of looming extremist ballot questions. Successful, yes, but carried out without any sunshine.
So, too, the legislature has exempted its work from being viewed while the legislature is not in session. Like to know which NCAA Division I athletes are receiving sponsorship funding and how much?
Not possible.
That’s why we were pleased that Gov. Jared Polis a week ago vetoed a measure, SB25-077, that would have given agencies more time to respond to records’ requests made by citizens than by the media, and more important given the agencies more latitude in deciding who or what was media, or not (Herald, Apr. 18). Being able to put a requester in the non-media category because of the wider boundaries and thus take longer to respond would have been tempting.
As to the distinction between the media and the non-media vis a vis governments, the media has long positioned itself as the public’s representative, the public’s eyes and ears.
“The bill leaves the custodian far too much power to define who is and who is not a member of the media, and what is and isn’t news,” the governor wrote, according to a story distributed by Colorado Newsline. Agencies would have had three days to respond to the media and 30 for businesses, with the definition of the latter self-servingly fluid.
Support for the legislation was unusually bipartisan, the House 45-9 and the Senate 27-6, and there is the possibility that the governor’s veto could be overridden; a vote of two-thirds of each is required.
The Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition felt the legislation would “create unnecessary barriers for people seeking to gain a better understanding of state and local government activities in Colorado,” according to Colorado Newsline. The Herald’s editorial board agrees.
